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Dubai: Despite challenging global trends, the majority of executives surveyed for the most recent edition of the Business Barometer: UAE CEO Survey carried out by Oxford Business Group (OBG) are positive about local business conditions, which is in line with broader signs that the UAE’s economic outlook is improving.
As part of its assessment of the economy, the global research and consultancy conducted over 100 face-to-face interviews to gain a comprehensive insight into business sentiment across the UAE’s economic sectors. The results are now available to view in full on OBG’s Editors’ Blog at: https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/blog/billy-fitzherbert/obg-business-barometer-uae-ceo-survey-2019
Some 64% of business leaders interviewed told OBG that they were either positive or very positive about the country’s business environment over the next 12 months. Although this was down slightly from the 67% recorded in the last iteration of the survey published in January, the proportion of respondents who answered negative or very negative has fallen significantly, from 24% to 9%.
Commenting in his blog, Billy FitzHerbert, OBG’s Regional Editor for the Middle East, noted that a number of factors were helping to foster private sector growth.
“Stimulus packages unveiled by Abu Dhabi and Dubai last year have continued to support expansion in those emirates, while the moves to relax foreign ownership rules across swathes of the national economy have been widely applauded,” he said. “Some 122 economic activities across 13 sectors have been opened to 100% foreign ownership for the first time.”
However, FitzHerbert noted that escalating regional tensions remained the main concern for the business community, with 71% of surveyed CEOs identifying regional volatility as the external event most likely to impact the UAE’s growth in the short to medium term. China demand growth meanwhile was the only answer that increased in comparison to the last survey, rising from 6% to 9.4%.
This illustrates the deepening ties between the two countries; the UAE has long been a key supplier of oil for China, but is now also emerging as a pivotal partner in the China’s ambitious infrastructure investment programme. In April the two countries signed $3.4bn worth of deals under the Belt and Road Initiative.
FitzHerbert said, “It is little surprise, then, that the attention of the UAE’s CEOs is focused eastward, and almost half of those surveyed by OBG selected South-east Asia and the Pacific as the region most likely to drive trade and investment flows in the years to come.”
FitzHerbert’s in-depth evaluation of the survey’s results can be found on OBG’s Editor’s Blog, titled ‘Next Frontier’. All four of OBG’s regional managing editors use the platform to share their expert analysis of the latest developments taking place across the sectors of the 30+ high-growth markets covered by the company’s research.
The OBG Business Barometer: CEO Surveys features in the Group’s extensive portfolio of research tools. The full results of the survey on Qatar will be made available online and in print. Similar studies are also under way in the other markets in which OBG operates.
About OBG Business Barometer
OBG Business Barometer: UAE CEO Survey Copyright (c). All rights reserved.
This survey has been designed to assess business sentiment amongst business leaders (Chief Executives or equivalent) and their outlook for the next 12 months. Unlike many surveys, the OBG Business Barometer is conducted by OBG staff on a face-to-face basis, across the full range of industries, company sizes and functional specialties. The results are anonymous.
OBG Business Barometer is based on data from companies with revenue within the following parameters, among others:
- 85% of companies surveyed were private
- 55% of companies surveyed were local
- 27% of companies surveyed were regional
- 18% of companies surveyed were international
The data generated allows for analysis of sentiment within an individual country, as well as regionally and globally. Additionally, comparisons can be drawn between both individual countries and regionally. The results are presented statistically within infographics and discussed in articles written by OBG Managing Editors.
OBG provides this survey, infographics and accompanying analysis from sources believed to be reliable, for information purposes only.
OBG accepts no responsibility for any loss, financial or otherwise, sustained by any person or organisation using it. For further information on the content of the survey, please contact: Billy Fitzherbert, Regional Editor, Middle East, at bfitzherbert@oxfordbusinessgroup.com. Should you wish to reproduce any element of this survey, infographics and accompanying analysis please contact: mdeblois@oxfordbusinessgroup.com. Any unauthorised reproduction will be considered an infringement of the Copyright. For further details about OBG and how to subscribe to our widely acclaimed business intelligence publication please visit www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com
Click here to subscribe to Oxford Business Group’s latest content: http://www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/country-reports
About Oxford Business Group
Oxford Business Group (OBG) is a global research and consultancy company with a presence in over 30 countries, from the Middle East, Africa and Asia to the Americas. A distinctive and respected provider of on-the-ground intelligence on many of the world’s fastest growing markets, OBG has offices in London, Berlin, Dubai and Istanbul, and a network of local bureaus across the countries in which we operate.
Through its range of products, OBG offers comprehensive and accurate analysis of macroeconomic and sectoral developments, including banking, capital markets, tourism, energy, transport, industry and ICT. OBG provides business intelligence to its subscribers through multiple platforms: Economic News and Views, OBG Business Barometer - CEO Survey, Roundtables and conferences, Global Platform - exclusive video interviews, The Report publications and its Consultancy division.
For more information, please contact:
Marc-André de Blois
Director of PR and Video Content, Oxford Business Group
E-mail: mdeblois@oxfordbusinessgroup.com
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