UAE among world's top 40 prosperous nations

The UAE has retained its position as the most prosperous country in the region as it ensures better health, education, safety and security to its people, a report says.
The emirate improved its ranking in 5 parameters out of 9 pillars of the 2018 Prosperity Index released by London-based think tank Legatum Institute on Tuesday. It joined the world's top 10 nations in the health parameter by climbing 15 positions to 10 and jumped 12 places on education to 53.
Safety and security, and social capital moved 2 places to 28 and 25, respectively, while business environment improved by 4 levels to 20 on the index.
The UAE is the only country from the region to secure a place among the top 40 prosperous nations of the world. Since the Prosperity Index was launched in 2006, the UAE has moved up the rankings table by 4 places to 39. The index covers 149 countries.
Saad Maniar, senior partner, Crowe, said the vision of the UAE's rulers and the extraordinary infrastructure are driving the ranking of the emirate to be amongst the top 40 countries in the world.
"The outlook is positive that the UAE will improve, or at least maintain, its ranking in the coming years," Maniar told Khaleej Times.
The report noted that the Middle East and North Africa region faces a common challenge in personal freedom where all countries fall outside the top 100. It further said the business environment has experienced a clear and consistent rise since 2007, where many countries have improved access to credit and ease of starting a business.
"Government reforms appear to be boosting sentiment and seek to support businesses in lowering operating costs," Mazen Houalla, director, Public Sector Advisory Leader, KPMG Lower Gulf, said.
In addition, he said the UAE recently announced allocation of the largest budget in the country's history for 2019 - most of which will be dedicated to social development, education and health,"
He said the introduction of VAT this year also seems to be helping move the country away from an oil-based economy, which will potentially boost revenue growth and promote greater economic stability.
Jitendra Gianchandani, chairman and managing partner of Jitendra Consulting Group, said Legtum Prosperity Index 2018 endorses that the UAE is resolute and robust in 2018 as it maintained its 39th ranking for the second consecutive year.
"In the latest Prosperity Pillar Rankings, the UAE performs best on economic quality (18), business environment (20), health (10), social capital (25), safety and security (28). However, the UAE scores less on personal freedom (119) pillar," he said. 
Tool for leaders
Baroness Philippa Stroud, CEO of the Legatum Institute, said the prosperity index is a tool for leaders around the world to help set their agendas for growth and development.
"Prosperity entails much more than wealth, it is about creating the environment where a person can reach their full potential," she said, adding that the UAE is among the top 40 most prosperous nations in the world, which is a formidable achievement that its leaders and citizens should celebrate.
"The UAE ranks among the top 25 countries for its economic quality, business environment, social capital and health, which are world-class; among the top 50 countries for governance, natural environment and education, but ranks only 119 in the world for personal freedom, which remains an area for improvement on the UAE's pathway to greater prosperity," she said.
The Prosperity Index ranks among top 40 those nations that have demonstrated over time how to build prosperity and well-being of the people. Countries such as Afghanistan, Yemen and Iraq, among others, are at bottom 20 facing significant challenges across all pillars, especially in improving safety and security. The middle 90 countries of the index, those that rank 40 to 130 and which contain 78 per cent of the world's population, is where the massive opportunity for developing prosperity exists.
"A nation is prosperous when it has an open economy, an inclusive society with strong institutions and empowered people who are healthy, educated and safe. Safety and security is fundamental to prosperity and the cornerstone on which to build all the pillars of prosperity," Stephen Brien, director of policy at the Legatum Institute, said.
Among the 20 countries that rose the most this year, he said safety and security was their strongest pillar and conversely, in the 20 countries that fell most, it declined significantly.
"A nation succeeds when its leaders set and protect national priorities and work with external parties to support and align with a domestic agenda," he said.
Norway, New Zealand, Finland and Switzerland retained top 4 positions in the 2018 Prosperity Index while Denmark climbed 2 positions to capture 5th place followed by Sweden, the UK, Canada, the Netherlands and Ireland in top-10 ranking of the index.
"It is encouraging to see that the UAE has maintained its position among the 40 most prosperous countries in the world. This reinforces the results of KPMG Lower Gulf's recent 2018 CEO Outlook - UAE and Oman report, which disclosed that almost all (98 per cent) of the UAE CEOs predict topline annual growth over the coming three years, with about two-thirds forecasting expansion of up to 2 per cent," Houalla of KPMG said.
- muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com