UAE Aims for $65 Billion Annual FDI by 2031

The United Arab Emirates has set out a policy framework it says will carry foreign direct investment to $65 billion a year by 2031, and the record $48.3 billion attracted in 2025 gives that mandate a credible starting point. According to the Ministry of Investment, inbound FDI rose 6% to AED 177.3 billion in 2025, a fourth consecutive annual record, and lifted total FDI stock to $318.9 billion (AED 1.17 trillion) at year end.

The institutional machinery behind the numbers is considerable. The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre reports that real GDP grew 6.2% in 2025 to AED 1.9 trillion ($517 billion), while non-oil GDP rose 6.8% to AED 1.5 trillion ($408 billion), now 76.6% of the total. Construction led sector growth at 11.1%, followed by finance and insurance at 10.4%, real estate at 7.9% and transport and storage at 7.8%. Trade contributed 16.9% of non-oil GDP, finance and insurance 13.2%, construction 12.9% and manufacturing 12.8%. Officials argue this broad production base corresponds closely with the sectors drawing foreign capital.

In November 2025, the UAE Cabinet approved the National Investment Fund with initial capital of $10 billion (AED 36.7 billion) to support investment attraction, a decision that sits alongside the National Investment Strategy 2031. That strategy sets targets of $65 billion in annual inflows and $600 billion in total FDI stock by 2031. On simple arithmetic, the inflow goal is about 35% above current levels and the stock goal roughly 1.9 times the existing base. Reaching it would require average annual growth of about 5.1%, a slower pace than the 24% compound rate Investment Minister Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi says inflows achieved between 2021 and 2025. The ministry has committed to advancing policies and regulations, reducing barriers to entry, improving the operating environment and expanding global partnerships.

Accountability for delivery rests with named office-holders. The 15th AIM Investment Summit, held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 7 to 9 September 2026, ran under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, inaugurated the event, and Minister of Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi chaired it. More than 25,000 participants from 191 countries attended, with 540 speakers across 103 keynote, interactive and dialogue sessions. Sheikh Saud noted that Ras Al Khaimah’s business ecosystem includes more than 73,000 companies from over 100 countries. The guest of honour, the President of Ethiopia, outlined opportunities in clean energy, agriculture, critical minerals, infrastructure, strategic corridors and human capital, and a government delegation led by the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh in India underlined the summit’s international reach.

Meanwhile, the regulatory environment is being tested by global conditions. UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2026 records global FDI rising 6% to approximately $1.6 trillion in 2025, ending two years of decline, though the recovery remained uneven and concentrated in a limited number of economies and sectors. Within that environment the UAE ranked ninth globally for inbound FDI, up from tenth, and has stayed in the top ten since 2021. In West Asia, where regional FDI rose about 20% to nearly $111 billion, the UAE accounted for roughly 44% of the total. Speakers at the summit identified artificial intelligence, clean energy, climate technology, food and water security and sustainable infrastructure as priority sectors, areas in which public policy and private capital are expected to move together.

Project-level data suggests where mandates and market demand intersect. Greenfield projects made up close to 45% of FDI inflows, with 1,562 projects representing $34.1 billion (AED 125.2 billion) of capital expenditure, 1.8% of the global total, and generating more than 65,000 jobs across transportation and warehousing, business services, software and IT, automotive manufacturing, financial services and communications. Automotive manufacturing took 30% of greenfield capital expenditure and communications 29%, the latter supported by Stargate UAE, a planned 1 GW AI computing cluster in Abu Dhabi developed with UAE-based G42. Real estate contributed 7%. Mergers and acquisitions accounted for 8% of inflows and reinvestment 11.2%, while average start-up funding rounds reached $9.2 million, nearly double the previous level.

Whether the 2031 targets are met will be measured by annual inflows, greenfield spending, job creation and the deployment of the National Investment Fund, with future UNCTAD rankings providing an external benchmark. Officials contend that decades of deliberate policy choices, forward-looking regulation and global connectivity underpin the trajectory. The coming years will show how effectively those commitments convert into sustained economic value.