Sharjah Attracts AED 5.97 Billion FDI In 2017 Taking Cumulative International Investments To AED 36 Billion

Sharjah FDI Office (Invest in Sharjah), the investment promotion arm of the Sharjah government has unveiled that the emirate’s performance in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in various economic sectors has seen a sharp increase of 102 percent between 2016 and 2017, with FDI inflows worth USD 1.622 billion (AED 5.97 billion) last year as compared to USD 808 million (AED 920 million) in 2016.

One of the key benefits of the process of these enlarged foreign investments has been felt by the job market in Sharjah, which has reported a 174 percent growth in 2017 with the creation of 2,815 new jobs as compared to 1,025 in 2016. More than 5,000 jobs were created in 2017 from all investments that came into Sharjah, including local, regional and international businesses.

These announcements were made by the Invest in Sharjah CEO, Mohammed Juma’a Al Musharrkh, at a press conference organised yesterday (April 10), in cooperation with the Sharjah Economic Development Department and under the presence of Mary Hebert, Senior Vice President of WAVETEQ North America, as part of their participation at the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM 2018), which concludes today (Wednesday) at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Invest in Sharjah, along with five other state-run entities in the emirate brought the forum’s exhibitors and global participants up to speed about their individual growth trajectories in 2017, offering key market insights into new and emerging business opportunities.

The Invest in Sharjah CEO revealed that the 2017 capital investments were made by 18 new projects that were set up in diverse sectors with the top three being architectural metal manufacturing investing USD 725 million (approx. AED 2.7 billion); agricultural, construction and mining machinery with USD 356 million (approx. AED 1.3 billion); and real estate FDI standing at USD 344 million (approx. AED 1.26 billion).

He noted: “Sharjah has witnessed a qualitative growth in FDI inflows in the past year, with 18 new businesses bringing in more than double the capital that was invested by 20 projects in 2016. These figures testify that Sharjah’s commitment to reinforcing positive perceptions of the emirate’s competitiveness as one of the top investment locations in the UAE and the larger Arab region by continually enhancing its infrastructure, services and regulations increase ease of doing business are headed in the right direction, and reaping fantastic results for us as well as our investors.”

He added: “Sharjah’s trade practices and FDI policies have had a positive effect on productivity growth and job creation. In 2017, Sharjah attracted USD 819 million, a staggering increase in comparison to USD 803 million in 2016.”

Invest in Sharjah identified top international investors in the emirate in 2017 as India, UK, USA, China, and Saudi Arabia and reported that a total of USD 10.5 billion (approx. AED 39 billion) was invested in different businesses last year, in a total of 35 new ventures characterised by domestic projects from the other emirates in the UAE and FDIs.