DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai on Wednesday announced a mammoth $8.7 trillion economic plan for the coming decade, aimed at turbocharging trade, foreign investment and its place on the map as a global hub.
“Dubai will rank as one of the top four global financial centers with an increase in FDI to over AED 650 billion ($177 billion) over the next decade,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, tweeted. “Over 300,000 global investors are helping build Dubai into the fastest growing global city.”
The post outlined a few of the 100 “future transformational projects” included in the ten-year economic roadmap. Those include boosting foreign trade to 25.6 trillion dirhams from 14.2 trillion dirhams in the last decade, nearly doubling annual foreign direct investment to 60 billion dirhams yearly, and increasing government spending from 512 billion dirhams in the last decade to 700 billion in the next.
Dubai aims to double the size of its economy in the next decade and become one of the “top 3 economic cities around the world,” the Sheikh’s tweet read.
Dubai has long been a regional hub for the Middle East but has of late made changes to integrate further with other parts of the world. It is home to a diverse 90% expatriate population and has for many years offered lifestyles comparable to those in the Western world — along with beaches, no income tax, and one of the world’s lowest crime rates.
“I think the GCC is going through a Golden Age,” Fadlallah said, referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council states. Its “economies have never been bigger, stronger, more diversified and more integrated into the global economy.”
