Greenfield FDI projects in Dubai attracted AED 52.3 bn in capital in 2024, making it the top global destination for greenfield projects financed by foreign investment, Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said in a LinkedIn post, citing the Financial Times’s fDi Markets data. FDI flows were up 33% y-o-y, with greenfield projects totaling 1.1k, marking the fourth consecutive year that Dubai has claimed the top spot.

Total FDI projects were up 11% y-o-y to 1.8k, Sheikh Al Maktoum said. Projects in Dubai represented 55% of the Mena region’s total, according to a Dubai Media Office statement, citing the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism.

New forms of investments were up 23% y-o-y, while reinvesting saw a 98% uptick. Mergers and acquisitions were up 8%, and venture capital-backed FDI increased by 39%.

The emirate also came out on top in terms of jobs created through new FDI inflows, with some 58.7k jobs generated last year, marking a 31% y-o-y increase. That puts it first in the Middle East and third globally. Sectors seeing an influx of new talent included business services, software IT services, real estate, logistics, financial services, industrial equipment, communications, and consumer products.

By the sector: Dubai ranked first in attracting greenfield projects in sectors including financial services, headquarters, real estate, and artificial intelligence (AI), according to the data. The emirate’s share of global FDI projects in Advanced Information Technologies (AIT) increased to 8% in 2024, up from 7.3% in 2023.

The breakdown: FDI inflow projects were led by the hotels and tourism, and real estate sectors, each accounting for 14% of total inflows, according to the statement, which cites Dubai FDI Monitor. Software and IT services made up 9.2%, while building materials accounted for 9%, and financial services for 6.8%. EnterpriseAM UAE was unable to verify the data from the Dubai FDI Monitor website, which was last updated on 30 June 2024.

Who was investing? India was responsible for just over a fifth, 21%, of total FDI capital inflows into Dubai last year, according to Dubai FDI monitor data picked up by the Dubai Media Office. The US accounted for 13.7%, followed by France (11%), the UK (10%), and Switzerland (6.9%).

REMEMBER- The UAE aims to attract AED 1.3 tn in FDI from 2025 to 2031, the country’s Investment Ministry Undersecretary Mohammad Alhawi said recently, though the government’s new national investment strategy had a bigger target of tripling FDI to AED 2.2 tn by 2031.

MEANWHILE, IN THE UAE-

The value of UAE greenfield FDI projects fell 33% y-o-y to USD 14.5 bn in 2024, normalizing after a particularly strong 2023, according to a report (pdf) from Emirates NBD. The UAE still accounted for 36% of GCC projects, trailing only Saudi Arabia, while the number of projects rose 2%. This follows a busy year in 2023 when the Emirates came second globally for greenfield FDI projects, with total value at USD 15.1 bn.

Breakdown by location: Dubai attracted 58% of the total project value, followed by Sharjah at 12%, while Abu Dhabi saw a significant decline, following substantial investments made in

renewables, automotive OEMS and the ICT sector in 2022 and 2023.

Sector highlights: Renewables led in project value. Real estate, software and IT, coal, oil and gas, business services, and automotive parts manufacturing also saw big-ticket investments. The primary sources of investment were India, the US, and the UK.

UAE as an investor: The UAE was also a key source of outbound greenfield FDI. Notable projects included ADQ’s Ras El Hekma development in Egypt and Mubadala’s USD 11 bn investment in US semiconductors.

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