Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, has announced that the average value of foreign direct investment, FDI, received by the country in 2016 reached US$9 billion.

The UAE’s outgoing international investments also reached $15.7 billion, making the country the largest receiver of FDIs in the Arab region and the largest Arab investor abroad, he added.

In his lecture yesterday at the headquarters of the National Defence College in Abu Dhabi, with the attendance of Major General Staff Pilot Rashid Mohamed Salem Al Saadi, Commander of the College, Al Mansouri said that the cumulative balance of incoming FDI at the end of 2016 reached $117.9 billion while the balance of the UAE’s direct investments aboard reached $113.2 billion.

He explained that the country’s business and investment environment is witnessing ongoing developments and current work is being done on issuing a new investment law, with the aim of encouraging and promoting investments and strengthening the appeal of vital economic sectors while focusing on qualitative investments in value-added sectors.

Al Mansouri noted that the law will increase the allowed percentage of foreign ownership of local investment projects, up to 100 percent in certain specified sectors, based on key standards that include a project’s level of integration with the country’s strategic and development plans and the size of invested foreign capital, as well as its potential to realise added value, support the country’s human resources and advance its technological development, and its compliance with the principles of environmental protection and the green economy.

He also praised the key role of the National Defence College in the area of military academic education and elevating the UAE Armed Forces, as well as its contributions to preparing future leaders, through leading and integrated courses that include various specialisations and subjects.