UAE scores high in global entrepreneurship rankings

Dubai - Reports from five specialised global institutions disclosed that the UAE is among the 20 leading countries in 13 global competitiveness indexes related to entrepreneurship in 2020

By Muzaffar Rizvi

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Top Stories

The UAE’s incredible track record in entrepreneurship over the past year has helped make it among the world’s most pioneering countries in the sector. — File photo
The UAE’s incredible track record in entrepreneurship over the past year has helped make it among the world’s most pioneering countries in the sector. — File photo

Published: Sun 9 May 2021, 5:42 PM

Last updated: Sun 9 May 2021, 5:52 PM

The UAE’s forward-looking policies on entrepreneurship yielded positive results as the emirate joined top 20 nations for creating competitive environment for nurturing entrepreneurs in the country.

Reports from five specialised global institutions disclosed that the UAE is among the 20 leading countries in 13 global competitiveness indexes related to entrepreneurship in 2020.


“The UAE’s international successes included top rankings in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, the Global Competitiveness Report 4.0, the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking and the Doing Business 2020 Report,” according to the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre.

Stays ahead of developed states


The reports show the UAE’s success in providing the best legislative and procedural frameworks to drive entrepreneurship in the country, be it in business agility, the availability of investment capital or the conducive climate for establishing SMEs, surpassing several leading global economies, including the US, Canada, UK, China, Japan and many others.

The government has launched many initiatives to assist entrepreneurs by extending competitive company licensing offers, business golden visas, office spaces as well as organising relevant events. It also facilitates access to government agencies and investors in the UAE and the wider region.

Global recognition

The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, issued by the International Institute for Administrative Development, ranked the UAE second in entrepreneurship, while it came in fourth in the venture capital availability index and fifth in the growth of innovative companies index of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report.

“The UAE ranked sixth globally in indexes related to business agility, venture capital and investment capital,” according to the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking. The emirate also claimed sixth place in the attitudes towards entrepreneurial risk index and eighth place in the time required to start a business index of the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, while ranking ninth in the SMEs and the capital cost indexes, 10th in the corporate debt index, and 11th in the total early-stage entrepreneurial activity index.

Incredible track record

The UAE’s incredible track record in entrepreneurship over the past year has helped make it among the world’s most pioneering countries in the sector, empowered by an attractive and integrated legislative system and innovative initiatives and programmes that encourage entrepreneurial projects and accelerate their growth, making them a major contributor to the UAE’s non-oil GDP.

“Being recognised among the top 20 entrepreneurship indexes globally is a tall feat for UAE. Such has not come about without the incessant efforts of the UAE government and the forward-looking attitude of the government bodies,” said Atik Munshi, managing partner at Enterprise House.

Despite of the difficult times in 2020, he said the UAE is among the very few countries who have tackled challenges of Covid 19 very effectively and in addition brought about optimum output from the business community with the help of positives changes in the legislature and other policies.

“I am of the view that such conducive environment of minimum tax level, security and safety, world class infrastructure coupled with the ease of doing business will catapult UAE in the near future as one of the most desired destination for business and residency not only in this region but globally,” Munshi said.

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com


More news from