If further proof was ever needed that the UAE's confidence was well and truly back, it came with the UAE prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum 's new goal that the country's GDP per capita would rise by 65% over the next seven years, just in time for the UAE's 50th birthday.
That would take UAE's GDP per capita to around USD 80,000 - which may not be quite at Qatar's level, but still signals a massive jump from its current USD 48,158 achieved in 2012.
While the 65% figure is eye-catching, it underlines a far more important message that the prime minister was trying to get across: the UAE will be focused on long-term growth and its key area of focus will be human development in terms of education and healthcare, tourism and real estate.
Throwing down a major challenge to his ministers and key personnel, he boldly noted: "If our performance over the past years was 100%, then we need 200% during the upcoming seven years".
The UAE is famous for being ambitious - sometimes hyperbolically so - but to its credit, it has also managed to achieve most of the goals it set for itself.
And Sheikh Mohammed has managed to stir his people to move ahead its regional peers: the country's infrastructure is unparalleled in the region, its status as a tourism destination is well-established and it is often ranked as one of the most high-profile cities in the world.
That did not come out by the UAE being coy and adopting a measured approach.
Indeed, the UAE, and especially Dubai, has often focused on quantum leaps: where the world would have been in awe of just one palm-shaped island, Dubai was looking at building three. While Dubai's Terminal Three was being expanded, the emirate was already designing an even bigger airport project in the south.
Not all these projects have taken off, and in truth, the UAE has stumbled a fair bit or achieved some of the goals at great cost.
Still, Dubai has emerged stronger and wiser from the sobering crisis of 2008.
Impressed by Dubai's renaissance, real estate consultant Jones Lang LaSalle considers Dubai the third most dynamic city in the world, after San Francisco and London.
"Property prices are rising, but growth appears to be on a sounder footing than in the pre-crash years of 2006-2008, underpinned by the city's strong global connectivity and its status as the service hub for the MENA region, as well as its position as a preferred staging point for an increasingly dynamic Sub-Saharan Africa," said Jones Lang LaSalle in its first City Momentum Index. "Furthermore, winning the bid to host Expo 2020 has given the city renewed confidence and momentum."
SEVEN CRUCIAL YEARS
The prime minister said that the "next seven years are crucial for the United Arab Emirates as the country is trying to achieve its national objectives in a world that is undergoing major changes, and these seven years are quite busy with work, projects, great initiatives and challenges."
The PM noted that the country is going to focus on education with state-of-the-art education institutes beginning from pre-school education. Meanwhile, the healthcare sector will also receive special attention as the country looks to raise its healthcare system.
Regional private equity is already active in both the healthcare and education sectors, and will no doubt watch with special interest as the authorities invest heavily in both the sectors.
In addition, the housing sector also got a special mention from the PM as he set to cut waiting periods for UAE nationals for home applications.
The UAE has already taken a number of initiatives to increase affordable housing for the UAE nationals, and this benchmark is set to spur greater construction spree of real estate units.
Part of empowering UAE nationals, was to raise their participation in the private sector tenfold in the next seven years.
"The private sector had contributed significantly in this regard, but we are still expecting more. If motivation is not enough, the government will enforce new measures to increase Emiratization in the public sector," the UAE PM said. "Emiratization is a top priority during the next seven years."
REFORMS
The UAE is also looking to "lead the world" in World Bank's Doing Business Index.
The UAE is currently ranked as the number one place in the Middle East North Africa region to do business in, according to the latest World Bank survey, but globally it is placed 23rd.
The UAE was ranked 26th last year, so the country has made progress, but once again Sheikh Mohammed is eyeing a quantum leap in growth.
To reach the top rank, however, the country will have to improve in a number of areas including securing credit (current rank 86), protecting investors (current rank 98th), enforcing contracts (100th) and resolving insolvency (101st).
Raising its game globally will also involve improving the country's government services and creating a world-class infrastructure.
© alifarabia.com 2014
