According to Scott Livermore of Oxford Economics, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) economy is expected to expand by 4.8 per cent in 2025–but its non-oil economy is going to grow even more than that.

At the GITEX GLOBAL 2024 event at the Dubai World Trade Center on October 14, Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri, Cabinet Member and Minister of Economy, Ministry of Economy (UAE), revealed more details about the country’s plan to seize opportunities in the digital economy sector, particularly in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

“We have been doing a lot of work in the last two years; a lot of regulations, a lot of goals. I think there are so many things that depend on diversification to the economy,” he told moderator Mike Butcher, Editor-At-Large, TechCrunch, at a session during the event.

“We have reached 74 per cent of our target … and it is a record.”

The minister said this diversification happens across different industries, including aviation and finance, but he was “most excited” about the new economies.

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When asked whether the UAE will benefit from its sandbox approach to tech innovation compared to other countries that are more restrictive, Bin Touq Al Marri said that the economy is created when technology comes together.

“That is the kind of formula that the UAE is providing for the world regulation,” the minister said.

Steps towards progress

In promoting tech innovation, the UAE does not hesitate to work with the private sector, particularly with companies such as Microsoft and G42.

Bin Touq Al Marri stressed that the country had invested heavily in AI even before the technology became increasingly popular three to four years ago.

Earlier this year, the UAE launched its own AI model, Falcon. The country even appointed its own state minister for AI, Omar Al Olama, in 2017.

“AI is not new for the UAE. We understood the technology very early on, invested in it, changed the academy, and introduced a minister to look at it. Today, we can say that we are heavily advanced in AI,” Bin Touq Al Marri said.

The country is also pushing for policies that focus on the ethical, social, and environmental aspects of technological development. “Yes, we want to use AI, but we want to use it with ethics, for the social and environmental aspects as well, to shape the kind of dialogue that happens globally on AI initiatives.”

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“UAE is the boiling point between the US and China, and the AI race is enhancing the technology forward. We are with the advancements of technology that you can see through the agreement between UAE, G42, and Microsoft. We are going to see more of that,” the minister said.

He stressed that this positioning is the reason tech talents are flocking to the UAE. Regarding human resources, the UAE has also introduced AI in the curriculum and supported various tech boot camps.

“We understand how important this aspect of reskilling the talent in the government and private sector,” the minister said.

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