A report from Deloitte and the Dubai Economic Council on attracting investments to Dubai

29 January, 2015 – The recent Expo 2020 win and the MSCI announcement to upgrade UAE exchanges to emerging market status in Dubai have boosted investor confidence and improved market activity in the Emirate.  In this regard, Deloitte Corporate Finance Limited (DCFL), in collaboration with the Dubai Economic Council have issued a report titled “Financial Sector Development for Promoting Investment and Sustainable Growth in Dubai”, authored by Rajeev Patel, director and Panos Stavropoulos, manager in transaction services at DCFL.

The report focuses on the key factors that would enable Dubai, as a financial and trading hub, to reach the next level in terms of sustainability and competitiveness, in order to attract investment at the regional and global stage and promote export-oriented growth, especially in skill-intensive SMEs that could generate opportunities for nationals. In addition to financial sector development issues, the report also analyses other related areas of public policies, such as, promoting capital markets, further enhancing the regulatory system, developing the business trading system and increasing the competitiveness of SMEs. Finally, the report makes a number of policy recommendations that would support Dubai’s growth journey.

“Whilst much has been achieved by the Emirate, there is still room for improvement in terms of enhancing economic performance and achieving sustainable growth, improving overall economic competiveness and attracting foreign investment,” explains Humphry Hatton, CEO, Deloitte Corporate Finance Limited.

The report further benchmarks Dubai versus its GCC neighbors, together with Singapore and Hong Kong, against each of the below criteria, and explores areas of policy enhancements and recommendations:

• Supporting the creation and growth of SMEs;
• Enhancing the business environment to help corporates grow;
• Improving and diversifying the financial services industry;
• Enhancing capital markets; and
• Strengthening regulation.

“It is well established that a successful financial services sector is critically important to be able to develop efficient capital markets and also to encourage and grow the SME sector”, added Hatton. “Supporting the growth of start-ups and SME’s by improving access to finance, combined with government initiatives promoting innovation, improving education levels and the use of latest technologies, are all important areas of attention to ensure that Dubai continues to build a sustainable and high-performance economy”.