The UAE has been steadily progressing towards setting ambitious goals and achieving individual targets at an emirate level and also collectively as a nation.
The emphasis continues on diversifying the non-oil economy, expanding the tourism offering, enabling trade & commerce and positioning the UAE as a preferred choice to live and work. In 2019, we witnessed various policy reforms to enable this transition such as relaxing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms, allowing long-term residency and creating strategic partnerships with key global economies.
We anticipate these policy reforms to have a long-lasting positive impact on existing and future businesses and in attracting talent to the region. As employment in the country grows, the requirement for investment quality real estate will increase in tandem.
There is no doubt an imbalance between the current supply and existing demand levels across most real estate asset classes, however, this is a short-to-medium term scenario which is likely to be addressed though supply side interventions and the positive impacts of the below mentioned demand side factors among others.
Continued shift towards knowledge economy
The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) has signed a strategic partnership agreement with China-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) company SenseTime to establish the firm’s EMEA research and development centre in Abu Dhabi while Sorbonne Centre for Artificial Intelligence has been inaugurated at Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi. In Sharjah, significant digital transformations were witnessed in 2019 such as the implementation of electronic rent contract attestation, and the launch of smart ‘Real Estate Developers Gate’ by Sharjah Real Estate Registration Directorate (SRERD).
These developments along with the various other Smart Dubai initiatives indicate a clear drive towards creating a mature knowledge economy in the region.
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