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UAE committed to sustainable economic growth, says minister

Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi emphasises the leading role the UAE plays on the global investment stage

The UAE has been driving sustainable economic growth through investments in renewable energy, an Emirati minister said at the eighth World Investment Forum (WIF) in Abu Dhabi.

“The world is changing at an unprecedented pace, and new investment challenges and opportunities are emerging daily. In response, here in the UAE, we continue to advance our ambitions of economic diversification alongside digital transformation, as we evolve into a leading knowledge and innovation-based economy underscored by a committed sustainable economic growth,” Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said emphasising the leading role the UAE plays on the global investment stage.

“In pursuit of these goals, engaging with and building strong partnerships with global leaders and decision-makers is an essential part of our strategy. We aim to leverage global trade, attract investments, and enhance international cooperation to ensure a sustainable and prosperous economic future that serves the UAE and its partners in the international community,” Al Zeyoudi said in his address at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

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The 8th edition of the forum is being organised by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) under the theme ‘Investing in Sustainable Development’. The UAE has been one of the first countries to commit to Net Zero by 2050. The UAE has invested more than $40 billion in clean energy over the last 15 years. It has plans to invest an additional $160 billion in clean and renewable energy sources over the next three decades. Earlier this year, the UAE announced plans to triple its supply of renewable energy and invest up to $54 billion over the next seven years.

$36 billion for renewable projects

Significantly, the UAE has been leading the energy transition globally too. In 2022, the UAE’s FDI outflows dedicated $36 billion to renewable energy projects. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) made substantial investments in more than 40 gigawatts of renewable energy projects. The Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) is an active investor in more than 40 countries with a total value of more than $30 billion.

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Meanwhile, Rebecca Gryspan, Secretary-General, UNCTAD, underlined that the forum is a global platform where the leaders of government and businesses, experts and stakeholders converge to address the critical nexus between investment in sustainable development.

“The UAE serves as the beacon of progress in the region and beyond. Talking about the various causes of suffering of people from cascading economic shocks, Covid-19, unrelenting climate disasters, war, to geopolitics, unbearable death burdens are crashing the very fabric of our global society. Speaking of the common agenda we drafted in 2015 amongst which only 50 per cent of the SDGs are on target to be met by 2030. There is a huge amount of investment gap that needs to be filled in and this is the forum we need to find solutions to fill in the SDG investment gap.”

The five-day forum brings together more than 7,000 government officials, decision-makers, business leaders and investors from 160 countries to address urgent investment challenges spurred by ongoing global crises. It comes ahead of the UAE’s hosting of COP28 to review the world’s actions to limit global warming to 1.5-degree Celsius benchmark.