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UAE among top nations on entrepreneur index

Dubai - The UAE achieved advanced rankings in many of the sub-indicators included in the general index structure in its 2020 version.

The UAE has been ranked first in the region and fourth globally on the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI) 2020, climbing up from its fifth ranking in the 2019 report.

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The country has outperformed many of the major global economies such as the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, the EU countries, China, Japan and South Korea in the overall rankings of the index prepared by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).

The UAE achieved advanced rankings in many of the sub-indicators included in the general index structure in its 2020 version. Most notably, the country ranked second in the National Governments’ Response to the Covid-19 lockdown and its impact on the entrepreneurial sector.

Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, said that the achievement is a matter of great pride, which confirms the soundness of the approach and the strength of the economic policies pursued by the UAE, with the support and guidance of its wise leadership.

The UAE’s fourth ranking globally on the Global Entrepreneurship Index indicates the success of national efforts made over the past decade to develop the country’s entrepreneurship sector.

The UAE also ranked high on the General Physical Infrastructure and Services indicator access with 7.3 points out of 10, outperforming the UK, the US, Spain, Austria and Germany. The country also achieved the same score on the Cultural, Social Norms and Society Support.

Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said that the country’s excellent global ranking in GEI reflects the success of its efforts and ambitious aspirations that stem from the insightful vision of its wise leadership. This indeed is a valuable addition to the country’s record of outstanding economic achievements. These efforts will continue in cooperation with the Ministry’s partners inside and outside the country to make Emirati entrepreneurs the best and most successful in the world in the coming years, he said.

Al Falasi indicated that the Ministry is developing an integrated strategy to stimulate entrepreneurship during the next phase in cooperation with the concerned authorities. This is aimed at developing an integrated framework to support national entrepreneurship, drive the development of the SME sector in the various emirates of the country, and to create an environment capable of providing comprehensive and sustainable support for entrepreneurs in the country. These efforts will focus on the ease of doing business, access to finance, increasing demand, business support, innovation, and digital transformation.

He further explained that the entrepreneurship and SME sector has today become a major engine for economic growth, in addition to its pivotal role in creating job opportunities and increasing the country’s competitiveness at the regional and global levels.

He added: “The economic challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 have affected the entrepreneurial sector negatively in most countries of the world and have led to the decline of most of the world economies. The progress made by countries on this indicator during the pandemic is a multiplier and reflects the unparalleled efforts made by the UAE to ensure support for this sector. This ensured the continuity of businesses and put them on a sustainable path of growth, which is reflected in the country’s second ranking globally in the sub-indicator namely Speed of Government Response to the Effects of the Pandemic on the Entrepreneurship Sector.”

GEI is one of the indicators of the UAE Vision 2021 national agenda, under the axis of ‘Competitive Knowledge Economy’, supervised by the Ministry of Economy, with the contribution of a national team and with the participation of many stakeholders in the country.

These include the Prime Minister’s Office; the Statistics and Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre; the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development; Dubai SME; and the departments of economic development.

Indonesia ranked first in the GIM 2020, followed by the Netherlands and Taiwan. The index is published by GEM, which is the world’s first reference for the state of entrepreneurship in various countries, especially by international organisations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and the UN organisations.

The report is the largest study on entrepreneurship and its activities in the world and includes a summary of the research that the Observatory conducts on global economies to evaluate the state of entrepreneurship in various countries.

The report’s methodology focuses on achieving three main objectives: measuring differences in entrepreneurial activity across world economies and understanding the ecosystem of entrepreneurship; discovering the factors affecting it; and proposing policies that can help enhance the level of entrepreneurial activity in the participating countries.

The index evaluates participating countries on many sub-indicators within a flexible structure that includes aspects such as finance, government policies, and government programs for entrepreneurs, research and development and knowledge transfer, teaching entrepreneurship skills in school and university education, labour market dynamics, and supportive infrastructure and the culture and societal outlook in support of entrepreneurship, among others.