The wholesale and retail segment accounted for the lion’s share, followed by the financial sector. 

The Dubai Statistics Centre (DSC) announced that foreign investment stocks in Dubai had reached Dh505 billion in 2016, an increase of 25.3 per cent from 2015.

“Dubai’s competitive position regionally and globally was driven by the high-quality investment opportunities it offers, supported by its advanced infrastructure, and its high-quality policies, laws and services to support investors,” said Arif Al Muhairi, executive director of the DSC.

“According to internationally adopted standards, the Dh505 billion [in] foreign investment stocks came from three types of foreign investments: foreign direct investment (FDI), other foreign investments and portfolio investments. FDI contributed 57.5 per cent of total foreign investment with Dh290.7 billion in 2016, a growth of 7.3 per cent compared to 2015.”

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FDI is the most important type of investment since it is a cross-border investment associated with a resident in one economy having control or significant degree of influence on the management of an enterprise that is resident in another economy.

Other foreign investments totalled almost Dh196 billion in 2016, representing 38.8 per cent of Dubai’s total foreign investment, a rise by 58 per cent from 2015. They include non-resident deposits, loans, commercial credits and other assets and liabilities.

The third type of foreign investments, called portfolio investments, represented 3.6 per cent of total foreign investment stock with Dh18.2 billion in 2016 compared to Dh8.2 billion in 2015. These were investments in debt or equity securities.

“[The] UK and India maintained their former ranking as the leading countries [on] the [FDI] list. Both countries’ total direct investment amounted to almost Dh70 billion, representing 24.2 per cent of Dubai’s total [FDI] in 2016,” the DSC executive director said.

Al Muhairi also explained that the outcomes of DSC’s survey on foreign investment in Dubai singled out wholesale and retail trade as the top activity, attracting Dh106 billion in FDI in 2016.

“This accounted for 36.5 per cent of total FDI compared to Dh104 billion in 2015, a growth rate of 2.4 per cent,” he said.

The financial sector was ranked second in terms of contribution to FDI, accounting for 24.4 per cent of the total in 2016 with Dh70.9 billion. The sector grew 18.5 per cent from 2015.

The survey outcomes also showed that real estate activities were ranked third in FDI stock, registering a contribution of 21.6 per cent in 2016 with a stock of Dh62.7 billion, compared to Dh58.8 billion in 2015, a growth of 6.6 per cent.

According to the survey findings, the remaining economic activities of Dubai accounted for 17.6 per cent of the total FDI stock with Dh51 billion in 2016 compared to Dh48.6 billion in 2015, a growth of 5.1 per cent.

Highlighting details of foreign investors’ place of residence, Al Muhairi stated that Asia accounted for the largest share of total FDI inflows into Dubai in 2016 with 43.6 per cent. He highlighted that India led Asian countries in terms of its contribution, representing 8.3 per cent of the total with a stock of Dh24 billion, a growth of 10.4 per cent from the previous year.

He added that Europe was placed second with its contribution to Dubai’s FDI accounting for 34.2 per cent of the total. The UK topped not only European countries but also the world, contributing 16 per cent of total FDI and achieving an annual growth of 7.4 per cent.

The Americas were placed third, contributing 15 per cent of total FDI. The United States of America ranked first in the Americas region, contributing 5.9 per cent of total FDI with a stock of Dh17.2 billion, which represented a growth of 17.9 per cent from 2015.

In fourth place came Africa which contributed 4.7 per cent of total FDI. Oceania placed fifth with a contribution of 2.4 per cent.

“Dubai’s international status and reputation was the crucial element in attracting foreign investments from across the world. A survey of foreign investors’ place of residence revealed that investors from 172 countries invested in Dubai in 2016,” Al Muhairi said.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in Gulf News on Sunday May 6th, 2018 http://bit.ly/GulfNewsforeigninvestmentstocks