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Dubai strongly positioned as financial, retail, construction, and transportation services hub for the region
Dubai, UAE – Dubai ranks first in A. T. Kearney’s latest report ‘Global Cities of the Future, a GCC Perspective’, developed for the World Government Summit 2017. The city is increasingly regarded as a global and regional leader in business activity, human capital, information exchange, and cultural experience.
According to the global management consulting firm’s report, Dubai is one the world’s top five cities for imports and exports, and serves as the major business trading hub in the GCC region. Home to the headquarters of Emirates airline and two international airports, Dubai is also a major destination for international tourism. The city scores high in human capital, with a variety of international schools and many foreign-born residents.
The report also noted that recent changes in public sector administration will serve Dubai and the UAE well, with future-oriented and innovative concepts such as the Ministries of Happiness and Tolerance. The newly launched Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030 aims to transform the city into a global platform for knowledge-based, sustainable, innovation-focused businesses. Foreign direct investment (FDI) continues to push the city’s business activities to global levels, while entrepreneurship and private investments are beginning to shape a culture of innovation.
Michael Romkey, principal with A.T. Kearney and co-author of the report, said: “Dubai is a fantastic example of how a city plans ahead, building on its robust progress in many areas to position itself as a leading global city. It has a high growth potential among the cities in the GCC region across all dimensions and continues to capitalize on its current capabilities and position. Its current ranking in the market is a testament to what has already been done and the groundwork implemented for continued success.”
On an international scale, New York, London and Paris remain unchallenged as the world’s most global cities, although the attractiveness of London as a global hub may change in the future given the Brexit vote. Meanwhile, the A.T. Kearney Global Cities Outlook identifies Melbourne, San Francisco and Geneva as cities that could make great leaps forward in the coming years, driven by changing policies and a shifting landscape.
“At a greater scale and speed than ever before, cities face unprecedented growth of human and societal needs, and at the same time look to boost their economic productivity and competitiveness to increasingly stratospheric levels to be relevant and win in the global stage. Evidently no two cities are the same, and any city looking to play in this league must define its unique position and points of sustainable differentiation and competitive advantage,” added Mauricio Zuazua, partner with A.T. Kearney and co- author of the report.
Since 2008, A. T. Kearney has been studying the factors that make a city truly global. These factors include whether the city has influence and power on the global landscape, shares ideas and values that impact other cities, and if the city is attracting capital and talent from around the world. The Global Cities of the Future report provides a unique assessment of the global engagement for major GCC cities, measuring how engaged each city is in five dimensions – business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience and politics.
Antoine Nasr, partner with A.T. Kearney and co-author of the report, stated: “As regional cities continue to build their global influence, we expect to see strategies founded on increased innovation and differentiation, such as Riyadh’s efforts to become a regional logistics hub for the Middle East. The approach we use to evaluate global cities of the future incorporates measures of both current performance and future potential of cities to attract and retain global capital, people and ideas alike.”
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Contact:
Anja Vinter
A.T. Kearney
+971 50 6585221 Anja.vinter@atkearney.com
© Press Release 2017
