Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UAE is picking up pace but still remains behind its pre-crisis peak, reported The National quoting a report by The Financial Times-owned FDI intelligence, adding that the UAE received $6.2 billion in greenfield FDI last year as overall foreign investment flows into the country rose for the fourth consecutive year.
Greenfield FDI differs from regular FDI in that it is a measure of new capital, plant and infrastructure projects built by foreign companies in a region. It does not include investments to repurpose existing capital, plant or infrastructure, also called brownfield investment, which means that it is a better measure of investment that should boost an economy’s spare capacity and create new jobs.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) valued overall FDI into the UAE, including both greenfield and brownfield investment, at $10.5 billion, still significantly below its 2007 peak of $14.2 billion. UNCTAD also pointed to broad economic recovery in both oil and non-oil sectors as the reason for increased FDI, with manufacturing and construction rebounding especially well after post-crisis lows.
It is worth noting that the UAE is the second-largest recipient of FDI spending in the Middle East (ME) behind Turkey, and the fourth-largest recipient of greenfield investment spending.
Moreover, greenfield FDI into the ME reached a total of $44 billion last year, and was expected to increase over the next three years. FDI increases into the ME would be led by “the recovery of the Middle East from the collapse in construction investment during the global financial crisis”, said FDI Intelligence.
Furthermore, the UAE remains the ME’s largest greenfield investor in other foreign countries, and was the world’s 11th largest source of foreign investment, right after Brazil and Korea. It is also worth noting that the UAE has invested $14.68 billion in greenfield projects in other countries, about 30% of all FDI ME outflows.
Greenfield FDI differs from regular FDI in that it is a measure of new capital, plant and infrastructure projects built by foreign companies in a region. It does not include investments to repurpose existing capital, plant or infrastructure, also called brownfield investment, which means that it is a better measure of investment that should boost an economy’s spare capacity and create new jobs.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) valued overall FDI into the UAE, including both greenfield and brownfield investment, at $10.5 billion, still significantly below its 2007 peak of $14.2 billion. UNCTAD also pointed to broad economic recovery in both oil and non-oil sectors as the reason for increased FDI, with manufacturing and construction rebounding especially well after post-crisis lows.
It is worth noting that the UAE is the second-largest recipient of FDI spending in the Middle East (ME) behind Turkey, and the fourth-largest recipient of greenfield investment spending.
Moreover, greenfield FDI into the ME reached a total of $44 billion last year, and was expected to increase over the next three years. FDI increases into the ME would be led by “the recovery of the Middle East from the collapse in construction investment during the global financial crisis”, said FDI Intelligence.
Furthermore, the UAE remains the ME’s largest greenfield investor in other foreign countries, and was the world’s 11th largest source of foreign investment, right after Brazil and Korea. It is also worth noting that the UAE has invested $14.68 billion in greenfield projects in other countries, about 30% of all FDI ME outflows.
Source:
Mubasher
