Sheikh Mohammed hails UAE’s achievements, says march for progress will continue

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, praised the UAE’s achievement in the the World competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) 2021.

The UAE, for the fifth consecutive year, leads the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in the list.

Sheikh Mohammed took to Twitter and said, “The World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) 2021 published by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland was released today.

“The report shows that despite the pandemic, we have advanced in 120 global indicators. We have topped the world in 20 development indicators and the UAE is among the top ten countries in competitiveness and the first globally in the government’s ability to adapt to changes. We did not stop during the pandemic. And we will not stop anymore.”

The UAE also maintained its overall global position, ranking ninth in the top 10 most competitive countries in the world.

The UAE outperformed leading countries, such as the United States, Finland, Canada, Luxembourg, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, and is the only country in the MENA region to rank in the top 10 for five consecutive years.

According to this year’s report, the UAE ranked first in 22 indexes, in the top 5 in 62 indexes, and in the top 10 in 120 indexes, out of a total of 335 indexes.

Instead of slowing down government workflow, the COVID-19 pandemic has actually accelerated the UAE’s development, enhanced its legislation and its responsiveness, he added.

Sheikh Mohammed continued, "The UAE has been has been climbing the ladder in most global indexes over the past 50 years.

"The UAE is the first regionally in most developmental and competitiveness indexes, and is among the top 10 globally in 120 developmental indexes, and yet we march on."

The IMD World competitiveness Ranking ranks 64 economies, covering 20 sub-factors and 335 indexes, and assesses the extent to which a country promotes the prosperity of its people by measuring economic well-being through hard data and survey responses from executives.

This year the rankings expose the economic impact of the pandemic across the globe. The report finds that qualities, such as investment in innovation, digitalisation, welfare benefits and leadership resulting in social cohesion have helped economies better weather the crisis, allowing them to rank higher in competitiveness.