UAE vs. Saudi FDI: A Tale of Two Visions

“I need you more than anyone darling / you know that I have from the start / so build me up buttercup / don’t break my heart”

The Foundations. Lyrics to Build Me Up Buttercup, 1968

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Commencing from the announcement of Golden Visas and a wide range of entrepreneurial visas in 2019, FDI into the UAE has exploded, with FDI / GDP in the UAE now amongst the highest globally for the past several years. This FDI is also dispersed across Emirates, with significant oil & gas investment in Abu Dhabi, complemented by port and manufacturing investment in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Meanwhile, significant FDI in Dubai is concentrated in the real estate sector, as it is in Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah. Fujairah continues to benefit from investment in its growing Sea of Oman port infrastructure.

We draw a direct line between the welcome mat to high income economic migrants and improvements in regulation and the legal system to the UAE’s success in attracting capital, built upon nearly 20 years of infrastructure investment in roads, power and water, and services. By comparison, Saudi Arabia’s FDI experience over the past 5 years is less impressive. In part, we attribute this to the 20-year head start enjoyed by the UAE, but nonetheless of the many Vision 2030 metrics promulgated by MBS, FDI is the metric on which the country has made the least progress, according to the reports released in 2024 (and validated by global FDI data).

If Dubai’s viral chocolate is an indicator of its arrival on the global scene, then we would see Saudi FDI growth in 2025 as a key validation of its strategies to change its own image globally over the past 5 years, and we are optimistic that this will be the case.

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