DUBAI: Foreign direct investments (FDI) in Dubai amounted to 24.7 billion dirhams ($6.7 billion) in 2020, the highest in the Middle East and North Africa region, creating about 18,000 jobs, the emirate’s crown prince said.
FDI projects in Dubai reached 455, exceeding the annual average of 441 in the last five years, placing the emirates among the top global FDI locations in 2020, according to data by the Financial Times’ fDi Markets.
“Dubai’s sustained FDI flows reflect the continued attractiveness of Dubai’s investment environment and the confidence of the investor community in Dubai’s future economic potential,” Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum said in a statement.
He noted how Dubai was able to achieve this in a challenging global investment environment, where businesses and investors were pressured by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The US was the top FDI source country, accounting for 21 percent of capital and 22 percent of projects. Other top countries were France, Japan, the UK, and Germany.
The FDI flows were mostly in the food services, electric power generation, healthcare, and retail sectors.
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