The UAE will encourage some 300 global technology firms and software developers to set up base in the country under the newly launched “NextGenFDI.”
“Large and SME businesses from across the world are approaching us and asking how they can relocate their talent, ideas and high-growth ventures to the UAE,” said Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade.
“The global interest in 2022 is unprecedented and while we are already working with some, we know many more want to follow suit. We want to ensure that the world’s most promising digital companies can access all the benefits that our attractive, business-friendly environment offers – but we also want to make it easy for them. NextGenFDI is designed to ensure that our market entry process is as streamlined and coordinated as our technology ecosystem.”
He added, “On one hand, this is about hyper-practical measures – making it painless and rewarding for companies to relocate here. On the other, in the wake of the pandemic and the UAE’s actions to position itself as a highly agile and resilient economy, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring some of the finest minds to the UAE and contribute to our drive to become the world’s leading innovation hub for years to come. The UAE has a relentless focus on helping next-generation businesses to scale at speed and the leaders of future industries recognize that. If you’re a company with a strong idea, the UAE would like to see it materialize and we’re here to make that process as simple and efficient as possible.”
The UAE is one of the region’s fastest-growing economies. IMF predicts economic growth will accelerate to 4.2 percent in 2022, contrasting a slowdown in Europe, Asia and the US. In April this year, the UAE was ranked first globally as the best ecosystem for startups and entrepreneurs, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s (GEM) 2022 report, as well as the region’s leading top country to attract foreign direct investment.
As a key pillar of its talent attraction drive, the National Program for Coders is offering Golden Visas to 100,000 computer coders. The UAE also aims to establish 1,000 new digital companies and increase investment in startups from approximately US$400 million to US$1.3 billion. The NextGenFDI initiative will complement and accelerate these efforts.
An expanding array of measures have been introduced to make the market entry process for companies simpler and more efficient. These include rapid and flexible incorporation processes to speed up licensing, bulk visa issuances, banking facilitation and commercial and residential lease incentives. Seven strategic partners have signed up under the initiative so far, such as Financial centres Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), freezones Dubai South and DMCC, tech hub Dubai Internet City, banks Emirates NBD and WIO. More are expected to join in subsequent phases.
NextGenFDI aims to leverage the UAE’s unique competitive advantage and global standing as a leading business, investment, and innovation hub to support the growth of the nation’s knowledge-driven economy. The campaign was launched by Dr. Al Zeyoudi alongside senior representatives from NextGenFDI.
NextGenFDI is aimed at seeking out businesses from all over the world that are focused on applied technology within various sectors and provide them with the necessary market entry fundamentals needed to launch and scale from within the UAE. These companies have highly skilled developers, coders and consultants within AI, gaming, data science and software. Housing such talent within the UAE is of vital importance and this new initiative will make the market entry process for bright minds with great ideas as seamless as possible.
Commenting on the launch of the NextGenFDI campaign, Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), said, “UAE’s comprehensive business ecosystem and political stability continue to position the nation as the destination of choice for FDIs. ADGM has been playing an anchoring role in the financial landscape of the region by actively pioneering progressive regulations and innovative solutions to enable financial intermediation and attract more liquidity and investments. We have been frontrunners to introduce transformational initiatives from the first regulatory sandbox regime and fully digital eCourts to the first crypto asset framework in the region and across borders.”