The Dubai Statistics Center said Dubai’s foreign investment stocks in 2016 reached US$137.5bn, which is an increase of 23.3% from the previous year.
Arif Al Mehairi, executive director of Dubai Statistics Center told Dubai Media Office: “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.”
“According to internationally adopted standards, the Dh505bn foreign investment stocks came from three types of foreign investments: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Other Foreign Investments and Portfolio Investments.”
According to a report on Gulf Digital News, Al Mehairi also said: “FDI contributed 57.5% of total foreign investment with Dh290.7bn in 2016, a growth of 7.3% compared to 2015. FDI is the most important type of investment since Direct Investment 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.”
“What also gives FDI greater relevance and impact in boosting productivity is the fact that it often coincides with the transfer of knowledge and technology.”
“Other Foreign Investments totalled almost Dh196bn in 2016, representing 38.8% of Dubai’s total foreign investment, a rise by 58% from 2015. Other Foreign Investments include non-resident deposits, loans, commercial credits and other assets and liabilities.
“The third type of foreign investments, Portfolio Investments, represented 3.6% of total foreign investment stock with Dh18.2 billion dirhams in 2016 compared to Dh8.2bn in 2015. These were investments in debt or equity securities,” he concluded.