Minister of Investment: The UAE is moving steadily towards the goals of the National Investment Strategy 2031 and enhancing its investment position globally
ABU DHABI, 8 July / WAM / His Excellency Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi, Minister of Investment, confirmed that the UAE continues to consolidate its position as a leading global destination for investment, supported by an advanced economic and legislative system and a clear strategic vision aimed at enhancing the country’s competitiveness and attracting quality investments.
His Excellency said in statements to the Emirates News Agency, WAM, on the occasion of the Ministry of Investment’s launch of the UAE Foreign Direct Investment Report 2026, which monitors the record performance achieved by the country during the year 2025, that inward flows of foreign direct investment reached a historic level of 48.3 billion US dollars for the fourth year in a row, while the country rose to ninth place globally among the most prominent foreign direct investment destinations.
During the meeting, His Excellency reviewed the features of the investment landscape in the country and the strategic directions during the next stage.
Regarding the UAE’s goals to attract foreign direct investment in the coming years and the sectors that are witnessing the highest rates of interest from global investors, His Excellency Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi said that the National Investment Strategy 2031 sets clear goals, namely raising annual foreign direct investment inflows to 240 billion dirhams (about 65 billion dollars) and reaching the stock of foreign direct investment to 2.2 trillion dirhams (about 600 billion dollars) by 2031.
His Excellency added that the UAE is moving steadily towards achieving these targets, as inflows in 2025 reached a new record level of $48.3 billion, exceeding the interim target for 2025 of $37 billion, thereby achieving about 74% of the target of annual flows and 53% of the target of the cumulative stock for the year 2031.
The Minister of Investment explained that the automobile manufacturing sector topped the sectors most attracting greenfield direct investment in terms of capital expenditures at a rate of more than 30%, followed by the communications sector, driven by data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure, at a rate of 29%, in addition to the real estate sector, whose capital expenditures amounted to 1.9 billion US dollars, with a growth of 71% on an annual basis, while the transportation and storage sector came in fourth place in terms of the volume of foundational capital expenditures, which reflects the country’s position as a global center for logistics services and trade.
Regarding the role of the advanced legislative environment in enhancing investor confidence, His Excellency Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi stressed that the legislative environment in the UAE combines stability and flexibility, allowing investors to make long-term plans with confidence while keeping pace with global innovations and the needs of international investors.
His Excellency said that the year 2025 witnessed a series of qualitative reforms, as the Abu Dhabi Global Market reduced commercial license fees by 50% or more for non-financial companies and retail companies, while the tax treatment of investment funds and qualified limited partnerships was clarified, and the regulation of the financial sector was unified within one law that expanded licensing to include open finance and virtual assets, in addition to updating the Commercial Companies Law.
Al Suwaidi added that these reforms address various aspects of the business environment to form an integrated system that gives investors more clarity and certainty from the establishment stage to operation and expansion, which was reflected in international evaluations with the country ranking first globally in the “Entrepreneurship Policies and Culture” index within the Global Innovation Index 2025.
His Excellency pointed out that estimates of direct domestic investment range between $100 and $119 billion, equivalent to about 2.5 times the annual inflows, which reflects the confidence of investors who are more informed about the policy environment and growth prospects in the country and contributes to building the sectors, infrastructure, and knowledge base that attract foreign capital.
Al Suwaidi stressed the continuation of this approach during the next phase by developing policies and systems, lowering barriers to entry, improving the operating environment, and expanding global partnerships, in addition to providing additional institutional support to accelerate investment recruitment and expand its scope through the National Investment Fund, which was established with an initial capital of approximately 10 billion US dollars, thus enhancing the UAE’s position among the most prominent global destinations for investment and business.
Regarding attracting investments in the fields of artificial intelligence and advanced technology, His Excellency Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi said that the UAE took the early initiative to adopt artificial intelligence technologies in government work, in recognition of its pivotal role in shaping the economy of the future, indicating that artificial intelligence and advanced technology are the top priorities of investors globally.
He added that estimates indicate that artificial intelligence will contribute approximately 14% of the UAE’s gross domestic product by 2030, which is the largest relative contribution and the fastest growing in the Middle East.
His Excellency explained that artificial intelligence and advanced technology are among the priority sectors in the National Investment Strategy 2031, and the Ministry is working to build integrated systems that include computing infrastructure, scientific research, and talent, including the Mohammed bin Zayed University for Artificial Intelligence, while directing incentives towards companies and sectors that are most dependent on automation and adopting artificial intelligence.
Al Suwaidi pointed out that the telecommunications sector, which includes data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure, accounted for about 29% of the capital expenditures of founding foreign direct investment during the year 2025, becoming the second largest sector attracting this type of investment, supported by the establishment of cloud regions in the country from the three largest global cloud computing companies and a base of data centers whose capacity exceeds 250 megawatts, with an additional 500 megawatts under development.
His Excellency added that one of the most prominent of these projects is the “Emirates Stargate” project, the first international expansion of the “Stargate” artificial intelligence infrastructure platform of the “OpenAI” company. Microsoft also announced an investment worth 15.2 billion US dollars in the UAE during the period from 2023 until the end of 2029 to enhance the infrastructure for artificial intelligence and cloud computing and develop local talent.
Regarding the Ministry’s support for the expansion of UAE investments in foreign markets, His Excellency Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi said that the Ministry of Investment was established to consolidate the UAE’s position as a leading investment destination and strengthen its investment system, explaining that its role is not limited to attracting international capital, but rather extends to supporting the expansion of UAE investments globally, given that the country’s ability to employ capital abroad reflects the strength and flexibility of the national economy.
His Excellency added that the UAE has established its position as a leading global investor through the efforts of sovereign investment institutions and with the growing participation of leading national companies and small and medium-sized companies, as outgoing foreign direct investment flows from the country amounted to 63.4 billion US dollars during the year 2025, while the stock of outgoing foreign direct investment reached 402.7 billion US dollars by the end of the same year, exceeding the incoming stock, making the country among a limited group of net capital exporting economies in the world.
He added that Emirati companies continue to consolidate their international presence, as mergers and acquisitions issued by the country recorded a record level of $18.2 billion through 117 deals during the year 2025, led by major national institutions and with the growing participation of private sector companies, which reflects the depth of the Emirati investment system globally.
Regarding the most prominent initiatives launched by the Ministry to facilitate the investor’s journey from his entry into the country until the expansion of his business, His Excellency Muhammad Hassan Al Suwaidi said that the investor experience represents a major axis in the Ministry’s work through integrated initiatives that include formulating strategies, promoting investment, developing policies, and enabling partnerships.
His Excellency added that in 2025, the “Atlas” platform was launched, which is an interactive geospatial platform that allows global investors to immediately access investment visions and explore sectors and opportunities in various parts of the UAE.
Al Suwaidi explained that this is integrated with new incentives and financing tools, as the National Investment Fund provides incentive financial packages for high-impact investments in support of the objectives of the National Investment Strategy 2031, while the “Emirates Growth Fund,” which was launched in 2025 with a capital of approximately 272 million US dollars, provides growth capital to small and medium-sized companies through investments ranging between 2.7 and 13.6 million US dollars per company, deepening the local system of suppliers and partners around the international investor.
He added that in addition to this, during the year 2025, the cost of entry will be reduced and regulatory requirements will be simplified, making the investor’s journey in the country more smooth and organized, starting from the establishment stage all the way to operation and expansion.
Regarding the UAE’s position on the global investment map by 2031, His Excellency Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi stressed that the National Investment Strategy represents a clear roadmap to consolidate the UAE’s position among the most prominent investment destinations globally by 2031.
His Excellency pointed out that the country has come a long way in this path, as it ranked ninth globally among foreign direct investment destinations and ranked second globally in the number of seed foreign direct investment projects for the third year in a row.
Al Suwaidi added that the next phase will witness qualitative milestones, including the expected completion of the first phase of the “Emirates Stargate” project during the third quarter of 2026 and the start of activating the incentive packages of the National Investment Fund, which will enhance the country’s achievements in priority sectors and embody the continuity of momentum confirmed by the results of 2025.
Regarding launching new investment initiatives or incentives, His Excellency Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi said that the mission of the Ministry of Investment is to build a competitive investment system and to be a reliable partner for investors in the UAE, indicating that the Ministry is keen on continuous communication with the private sector and supporting the investors’ journey at its various stages, and will continue to develop the investment system and facilitate doing business in the country.
His Excellency added that the Council of Ministers approved in November 2025 the establishment of the National Investment Fund with an initial capital of 36.7 billion dirhams, equivalent to 10 billion US dollars, and aims to encourage foreign direct investment flows into the country through financial incentive packages in support of the objectives of the National Investment Strategy 2031.
Sweden explained that the Ministry is working to enhance investments in various sectors of the national economy in line with the country’s commitment to economic diversification, with a focus on sectors that are witnessing growing global demand and are compatible with the competitive advantages of the UAE.
Regarding the economic impact of attracted investments on the domestic product, job opportunities, and technology transfer, His Excellency Muhammad Hassan Al-Suwaidi said that the basic criterion for measuring the success of investments is the impact they have on the national economy through the establishment of new companies, developing capabilities, transferring knowledge, and providing job opportunities. He pointed out that incorporative foreign direct investment provided more than 65,000 job opportunities during the year 2025, with a growth of 31.6% on an annual basis.
His Excellency added that the share of research and development, regional headquarters and information technology jobs in the total employment related to foreign direct investment is witnessing a continuous expansion, which reflects the growing contribution of these investments in transferring knowledge and technology to the national economy.
He pointed out that the country has attracted major international cloud computing companies to establish cloud regions within the country in parallel with building sovereign capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence, while the UAE ranked first in the world in the growth of the concentration of artificial intelligence talents according to the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Index 2026.
His Excellency stressed that the structure of foreign direct investment has become increasingly compatible with the structure of the national economy and its growth sectors, noting that the record levels recorded by inflows, amounting to $48.3 billion, in addition to the stock of foreign direct investment reaching $318.9 billion by the end of 2025, confirm the attractiveness of the investment environment in the UAE and the confidence of international investors in it.
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