UAE more resilient to external, internal shocks with stimulus bid

Global consultancy KPMG said on Thursday the Gulf state United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranks fifth in global readiness index in relation to economic and political shocks, Dubai daily Gulf News reported.

According to the report, the UAE is the most prepared in the Arab world in relation to external and internal shocks and in keeping up the pace with long-term trends such as technologies and demographics.

In the ranking which the consultant firm produced together with Oxford Economics, the Gulf Arab state, a major oil supplier, emerged number five in the KPMG 2015 Change Readiness Index, behind Singapore, Switzerland and Hong Kong.

However, the UAE was ahead of developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. The only other Arab country ranking among the top 10 is Qatar which landed on position seven.

Gulf news quoted Vikas Papriwal, head of markets, KPMG Lower Gulf saying the UAE's non-oil sector has been growing rapidly, largely due to initiatives by the government to boost the private and government sector.

The expert added that the country anticipated many global economic scenarios, "and built a range of economic policies in order to be better prepared and equipped to manage a range of variables."

The oil sector contributes 29 percent to UAE's gross domestic product (GDP) compared to 50 percent in Kuwait.

Earlier in the week, UAE vice president, prime minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum said the government's goal is to raise the share of small and medium enterprises in the country's economy to 70 percent by 2021.

The head of government also said that 2014 was the strongest year for the UAE economy since the Gulf state was founded in 1971 as a growth in real GDP of 4.6 per cent, and with nominal GDP reaching 1.47 trillion Dirham (400.5 million U.S. dollars). Endit