UAE Chases 7% Growth to Double Economy to Over $800 Billion

Manus Cranny and Abeer Abu Omar
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- The United Arab Emirates is looking to accelerate economic growth as it seeks to double its gross domestic product to over $800 billion by the end of the decade.

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“The focus is to grow by 7%,” Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, the country’s economy minister, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television Thursday. “We need to double our economy” so it reaches 3 trillion dirhams ($817 billion) in output by the end of 2030, he said.

The oil-rich country saw its economy expand almost 8% in 2022, thanks in part to higher crude prices and production. This year, the International Monetary Fund projects GDP growth will slow to 3.5%.

The Gulf country is seeking bilateral trade deals and partnerships to achieve its goals and is confident it has the policies in place to navigate any potential challenges such as slower Chinese growth or disruptions to the global financial system, according to the minister.

Read: UAE to Grow Asia, Africa Trade, Seek $150 Billion Investment

The UAE, OPEC’s third-largest producer, has been pushing to develop its position as a global hub for business and finance, especially as it faces growing regional competition from larger neighbor Saudi Arabia. It’s inked trade deals worth billions of dollars over the past two years with countries including India, Indonesia and Turkey.

Read: Turkey Gets $51 Billion Pledge of Economic Support From UAE

This week, during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Abu Dhabi, the UAE pledged to ramp up financial help for Turkey with deals that could be worth more than $50 billion.

The financial commitments include the signing of several memoranda of understanding, buying $8.5 billion of bonds and a $3 billion pact by Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ with Turkey’s Export Credit Bank to finance companies planning to export goods to the UAE and other markets.

The two countries are still working on finalizing the details, which will “come in very shortly and very soon,” Al Marri said.

--With assistance from Sarah Halls.

(Updates with details on UAE’s financial pledge to Turkey in penultimate paragraph.)

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