Picture used for illustrative purposes.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The UAE has ranked eighth globally among the countries that contribute most to foreign direct investment outflows, according to the latest report by the Financial Times' FDI Intelligence unit. Since 2003, multinational companies in the UAE have invested about $511 billion in foreign markets, as of the end of May 2023, according to the report.

Middle Eastern countries have played an important role in global foreign direct investment outflows, as the UAE is the top source of FDI among 13 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia, the report said. The United States topped the global rankings, accounting for nearly a fifth of global FDI over the past two decades, investing more than $3 trillion in foreign markets, followed by Germany in second place with $1.2 trillion, Japan in third place with $1.09 trillion, and the United Kingdom fourth with $1.05 trillion.

China ranked fifth globally among the largest FDI outflows with $843 billion, followed by France in sixth place with $833 billion, and South Korea in seventh place with $598 billion. The United States is among the top three sources of FDI in 108 economies, while the UK is among the top three sources of FDI in 42 countries, followed by Germany in 49 countries, China in 42 countries, France in 38 countries, the UAE in 30 countries and Canada in 28 countries.

Global Investment It is noteworthy that the UNCTAD report on "Global Investment 2023" recently pointed out that foreign investment flows to the UAE rose by 10 per cent to $23 billion, the highest level ever recorded, revealing that the UAE received the fourth largest number of new projects (997 new projects) in 2022, with an increase of 84 per cent.

The report, released last month, noted that the United States remained the largest host for announced foundational projects and international project financing deals, followed by the UK, India, the UAE and Germany for new projects, and India, the UK, Spain and Brazil for project financing deals. New investment projects announced in 2022 increased by almost 70 per cent in value, but only marginally in terms of numbers. The top destination for investment in new areas was Mexico, with 27 projects, followed by Turkey and the UAE with 24 projects each.