UAE investment study prioritises skills and technology gains

The UAE can turn its record foreign investment inflows into broader gains in innovation, workforce skills and productivity, a new study by Dubai-based White Paper Media Consulting has found.
The white paper, titled Beyond the Numbers: The Transformative Intangible Impact of FDI, argues that investment performance should increasingly be assessed through technology transfer, intellectual property, local business development and environmental improvements rather than capital inflows alone.
Its findings follow a record year for foreign direct investment. The UAE attracted $48.3 billion in 2025, an increase of 6 per cent, according to the Ministry of Investment. The country ranked ninth worldwide for incoming investment and second for the number of announced greenfield projects.
Those projects numbered 1,562, maintaining the UAE’s second-place global ranking for a third consecutive year. The investment ministry said the country’s accumulated inward FDI stock reached $318.9 billion at the end of 2025.
The study identifies employment creation as one measure of investment’s wider contribution. Between 2019 and 2023, the UAE generated an estimated 2,816 jobs for each $1 billion of greenfield investment, compared with 2,265 during the preceding five-year period.
The corresponding averages for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development were 2,318 and 1,880 jobs respectively. The comparison suggests stronger employment intensity in the UAE, although job creation alone does not establish the quality, durability or skill requirements of those positions.
White Paper Media Consulting draws on the OECD’s FDI Qualities framework and examines approaches adopted in Ireland, Singapore, Israel, Costa Rica and Malaysia. Its central argument is that attracting multinational companies produces the greatest lasting benefit when domestic businesses and workers acquire capabilities they can retain and develop.
Yazad Darasha, the consultancy’s co-founder and director, said the UAE had established a strong position in attracting international capital, but the more demanding task involved converting that investment into skills and technology.
The paper identifies seven policy shifts intended to strengthen these benefits. They include extending economic activity from free zones into mainland supply chains, attracting more research-intensive projects and incorporating skills transfer into major investments. It also emphasises intellectual property creation and data governance.
Joachim Arnold, chief executive of investment advisory firm OCO Global and a contributor to the study, said the National Investment Strategy 2031 indicated a stronger emphasis on productivity and wider economic benefits. He highlighted the importance of enabling domestic companies to improve their capabilities through foreign investment.
The strategy targets annual foreign investment inflows of approximately $65 billion by 2031 and an inward investment stock of $600 billion. These remain government objectives rather than projected outcomes, and their achievement will depend partly on international investment conditions.
The report points to the satellite manufacturing venture involving UAE-based Space42 and Finland’s ICEYE as an example of investment linked to technological capabilities. It also cites Microsoft’s announced $15.2 billion investment commitment in the UAE and plans to provide skills training to one million people.
Such commitments illustrate the potential for collaboration, but announced spending and training targets are not equivalent to completed projects or independently measured productivity improvements. The distinction matters when assessing whether foreign investment delivers lasting benefits beyond its initial financial value.
The wider international environment also presents challenges. UN Trade and Development said global FDI increased 6 per cent to $1.6 trillion in 2025, but warned that gains remained concentrated in few countries and sectors. Geopolitical tensions, financing costs and uncertainty over trade policy could constrain further investment.
The consultancy also points to the UAE’s $30 billion commitment to the Alterra climate investment platform, placing clean technology alongside digital infrastructure and advanced manufacturing among areas where investment can support broader economic capabilities. The study does not establish that every such initiative has already produced measurable technology transfers or new domestic expertise.
UN Trade and Development has similarly cautioned that headline investment totals do not necessarily translate into factories, employment or improved technological capacity. Its 2026 investment assessment recommends stronger supplier networks, workforce development and measures that help countries retain investors through periods of uncertainty.
The UAE’s investment framework permits full foreign ownership across most mainland commercial activities. Its National Investment Strategy places emphasis on attracting capital into priority sectors, while the consultancy’s analysis calls for closer connections between foreign enterprises, local suppliers and research institutions.