COVID-19: UAE's stimulus packages total $107bln

The UAE has come a long way, when it comes to economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The total economic support packages and initiatives provided by the federal and local governments since the beginning of the pandemic to date has reached a total of Dh395 billion.

Humaid Al Muhairi, director of communication department at the Ministry of Economy, said on Wednesday: “The package, plans and actions taken by the UAE aimed to mitigate the effects of the crisis; ensure business continuity and production; and accelerate the transition towards a more flexible, developed and sustainable model of economic work.

“The economy of the UAE has proven its ability to overcome crises over the past decades, thanks to its diversity, competitiveness and the development of the country's physical and digital infrastructure."

Al Muhairi noted that the UAE was ranked first in the Arab world and second worldwide in the government's response to the closure due to the global spread of the pandemic and its impact on the entrepreneurial sector, according to the recently released Global Entrepreneurship Index 2020.

In October 2020, the UAE ranked first in the Arab world in the Covid-19 pandemic Economic Recovery Index, released by the Horizon Research Group, made up of a panel of experts from the United Nations and the World Economic Forum.

Social sector

Mona Khalil, director of communications at the Ministry of Community Development, said that at the beginning of the pandemic, the 'UAE Volunteers' campaign was launched. It was the largest of its kind in the UAE.

“Volunteers were trained through the Ministry of Health and Prevention to support the UAE medical system. The Federal Youth Authority launched national initiatives to increase readiness of young Emiratis to deal with pandemics."

The UAE has developed many specialised programmes by experts to provide psychological support to different groups of society.