Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Pakistan
With a stable and secure business environment and investor-friendly legislation, the UAE is an ideal destination for global investment. At the crossroads of major growth centers in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, the UAE offers opportunities to rapidly expand operations to serve regional and international markets.
Foreign investors can benefit from the UAE’s logistical expertise and its role as a regional hub for the Middle East, as well as its strong network of economic agreements, including 101 agreements on the avoidance of double taxation and 67 bilateral investment treaties. Investing in the UAE guarantees sustainable future growth for multinationals, SMEs and private investors.
In the 2021 World Competitiveness Yearbook, the UAE ranked 9th in the world, scoring high on government and business efficiency, economic performance, and infrastructure. Additionally, in the Global Competitiveness Report 2020, the UAE ranked second in the world for ICT adoption, flexible working arrangements, digital skills and digital legal framework.
Characteristics of the UAE economy include its strategic location, strong financial reserves, large sovereign wealth funds, strong international relations, constant government spending on infrastructure, digital transformation and innovation, progressive politics economic diversification, multi-specialty free zones and an increase in foreign investment. direct investment.
To foster the development of a sustainable, diversified and competitive knowledge-based economy, the UAE is working to facilitate investment in a number of priority sectors. Additionally, the UAE offers its vibrant expat community the opportunity to do business anywhere in the country, including in its many free zones, industrial zones and commercial buildings.
The UAE’s investment-friendly trade regulations allow 100% foreign ownership in 122 economic activities across 13 sectors, and the country regularly hosts high-level conferences, international exhibitions, and trade and investment events.
The UAE is also offering various incentives to investors with the aim of increasing the number of small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups in the country, with the government simultaneously removing barriers that impede the flow of investments.
Investors of all nationalities can set up and wholly own businesses in the UAE. This change came about based on the provisions of Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020 on Commercial Companies, under which a foreign company wishing to open a branch and carry out its activities in the UAE does not need the presence of a UAE National Officer.
More than 40 free zones allow tax exemptions and 100% ownership for foreign investors. The UAE also offers investors flexibility in choosing the most suitable area to establish their business. Free zones are spread throughout the UAE, allowing investors to engage in a wide variety of economic activities.
The United Arab Emirates does not impose income tax on individuals and investors, with the exception of oil companies and branches of foreign banks. As a country with a free economic model since its inception, it allows individuals and investors to freely repatriate all of their profits.
The UAE has adopted a new visa system by granting long-stay visas for periods ranging from 5 to 10 years. Available to investors, entrepreneurs and talented individuals, these visas allow expats and their family members to live, work or study in the UAE while enjoying the benefits of extended residency.
In addition to a desirable investment climate, the UAE also enjoys a stable and secure environment that over 200 nationalities call home. More than 1.5 million Pakistanis reside in the United Arab Emirates, which ranks first in the Arab world in the World Happiness Report 2020.
As the second safest country in the world (Global Finance Index 2021) and the second largest economy in the GCC and the Arab world, the United Arab Emirates remains the preferred destination to live and invest.
