The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report for the year 2023-2024 has once again ranked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the top global performer for the third consecutive year. This remarkable achievement is underscored by the UAE’s record-breaking score of 7.7, making it the highest in the history of the report. Surpassing numerous advanced economies, the UAE has been recognized as the premier destination worldwide for initiating and conducting new business ventures.
Excelling in global indicators
The GEM report highlights the UAE’s exceptional performance across 12 out of 13 global indicators, including crucial aspects such as funding for entrepreneurial projects, access to financing, ease of market entry, infrastructure, research and development, knowledge transfer, government programs, supportive policies, taxation, education, and cultural standards. Additionally, the country secured the third global rank in terms of physical infrastructure.
Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, UAE minister of Economy, expressed immense pride in the UAE’s accomplishment, attributing it to the nation’s emphasis on entrepreneurship and its support for small and medium-sized enterprises, which facilitate the establishment of a competitive knowledge-based economy founded on innovation and new economy principles. He further remarked that this achievement aligns with the UAE Vision 2031, which aims to position the country as the global hub for the new economy within the next decade. The entrepreneurship model plays a pivotal role in developing projects and activities in various sectors of the new economy, such as technology, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, space, and financial technology, the minister added.
Bin Touq underscored the UAE’s endeavors in transforming the entrepreneurship landscape through initiatives like the “Entrepreneurship Hub” and the Nafis program. These efforts provide incentives and support to help small and medium-sized enterprises access global markets and foster innovation.
Enhancing competitiveness, empowering women entrepreneurs
The GEM report underscores the UAE’s substantial investments in enhancing the competitiveness of its entrepreneurship ecosystem, leading to a doubling of entrepreneurial activity in the early stages. Notably, the country has created an enabling environment that supports women entrepreneurs, facilitating their access to resources and capabilities and propelling the UAE to be among the top five economies globally in terms of supporting female entrepreneurship.
Furthermore, the report highlights the UAE’s significant progress in entrepreneurship education, particularly in schools, where it stimulates skills such as creative thinking, problem-solving, opportunity recognition, and risk assessment among students. The UAE ranks among the top five out of 49 countries in this aspect.
UAE: Leading the National Entrepreneurship Context Index
In addition to its overall ranking, the UAE also secured the top position globally in the “National Entrepreneurship Context Index” (NECI) within the same report. The NECI evaluates the supportive environment for entrepreneurship in each country based on expert opinions from the field of entrepreneurship. This achievement aligns with the UAE’s goal of reaching one million small and medium-sized enterprises by 2031.
According to the GEM report, India ranked second, Saudi Arabia third, Lithuania fourth, Qatar fifth, Estonia sixth, Netherlands seventh, South Korea eighth, Switzerland ninth, and China tenth in terms of entrepreneurship performance.
A global reference for entrepreneurship
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) is widely regarded as one of the most significant global references in the field of entrepreneurship for countries and international organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and various United Nations affiliated organizations.
The report’s methodology focuses on three primary objectives: measuring variations in entrepreneurial activity across economies worldwide, comprehending the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the factors influencing it, and proposing policies to enhance and develop the level of entrepreneurial activity.