Adopting the UAE digital economy strategy, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said that the goal over the next 10 years is to increase the contribution of this sector to the GDP by 20%.
Aiming to enhance the position of the UAE as a hub for the digital economy in the region and globally, the strategy will define the digital economy in the country, with a unified mechanism to measure growth and indicators periodically across various sectors.
The UAE council for digital economy has also been established and will be chaired by Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, minister of state for artificial intelligence, digital economy, and teleworking applications. This specific body of authority will support the directions of the country to double the contribution of the digital economy to the UAE’s GDP in the year 2031.
It is worthy to note that the UAE is among the top 25 percent of countries in the most important global digital indicators, where the contribution of the digital economy to the economic sectors of the UAE’s GDP is 9.7%, and to the non-oil GDP is 11.7%.
GCC countries are growing their digital economy almost twice as fast as advanced economies, with countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar increasing their focus and strategic initiatives to enhance digitalization. In fact, the information and communication technology (ICT) sector is a key engine in the digital economy, with 5G development in the GCC region leading in the world.
