UAE Targets a More Productive Economy in 2027

The UAE will enter 2027 with “a different economy, a more productive economy”, Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism, said at the RISE Summit 2026 in Dubai, identifying recovery, execution and reform as the country’s three economic priorities for the year ahead.

Speaking at the session ‘From Resilience to Opportunity in a Realigning World’, Al Marri highlighted the UAE’s economic resilience as geopolitical shifts reshape global trade routes and investment flows.

“We’re not closing one door, we’re opening a second one,” he said.

Reflecting on the pandemic, high interest rates, inflation and geopolitical conflicts, Al Marri said the UAE’s consistent policy messaging had helped sustain investor confidence.

“The policy narrative is very important. We are open, we invest, and we communicate our narrative very clearly,” he said. “Whether there is a crisis or not, the narrative is the same, because investors have believed in that vision.”

With government procurement accounting for almost 25 per cent of the UAE’s GDP and federal services increasingly adopting agentic AI, Al Marri urged businesses to keep pace with the government’s digital transformation efforts.