UAE is most competitive in Mena — study

WORLD BANK, WEF REPORT HIGHLIGHTS ECONOMY’S RESILIENCE TO SHOCKS

The UAE has the most competitive economy in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), a new study from the World Bank Group and the World Economic Forum says.

The Arab World Competitiveness Report 2018, launched yesterday in Dubai, ranked the UAE as the 17th most competitive country in the world.

Saudi Arabia, at number 30, was another Mena nation to crack the global top 30.

The rankings are based on 12 factors, from education to infrastructure, that are critical for productivity and economic growth.

Increased diversification makes the UAE’s economy most resilient and able to weather the double shock of lower oil and gas prices and reduced global trade, according to the report, and better suited to maintain a stable macroeconomic environment.

“The resilience of its fiscal policy will be further strengthened in the future because the UAE was … among the early adopters of the new VAT,” the report states.

In order to further increase its competitiveness, the UAE will have to speed up progress in spreading the latest digital technologies (36th) and upgrading education (36th).

Education and innovation are two areas where the Mena countries most deviate from their counterparts in more developed nations.

Despite this, the UAE benefits from strong institutions, good infrastructure, and a good level of health care and primary education, according to the report.

Public sector dominance

Throughout the region, however, there are strong macroeconomic headwinds facing the 20 Mena countries.

Despite being non-homogenous, “what is very common across the countries in the Arab world is the issue of the dominance of the public sector …[they] have been the provider of all the jobs, 60 to 80 per cent,” said Mouayed Makhlouf, regional director for the IFC, a sister organisation of the World Bank.