Dubai ranked first globally in attracting foreign direct investment for AI, more than $21 billion between 2015 and 2018, with the most coming from the European Union and the United States — $5.7 billion and $3.9 billion respectively. While AI adoption will account for 45 percent of the world economy’s total gains by 2030, the UAE ranks first in the Arab world in terms of expected annual growth of AI’s contribution to the economy at 33.5 percent, followed by Saudi Arabia at 31.3 percent, the rest of the GCC region at 28.8 percent and Egypt at 25.5 percent.
These figures were released in connection with Annual Investment Meeting (AIM 2019), which will be held from April 8-10 in Dubai. The UAE’s startups have scooped up another $31.36 million in investments, making up 88% of the total deal value in the region, according to the organisers of the upcoming AIM Startup event.
Local services, e-commerce, and financial services acquire 44% of total transactions, Arabian Business reported.
“The startup ecosystem is fast changing. Just a few years ago, startups seemed like the purview of a niche circle, but fast forward today, and startups are hitting the mainstream business culture, emerging at an unprecedented rate,” Dawood Al Shezawi, chairman of the Organising Committee of AIM Startup, said.
He added that the main catalysts of the startup ecosystem have become fintech, cybersecurity, and blockchain.
Running between 8 April and 10 April in the emirate of Dubai, AIM Startup aims to connect promising startups with investors and business partners across the world.
The third edition of the event will host up to 500 investors, corporates, government representatives, and industry experts and will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their groundbreaking solutions to a global audience over 20,000.
The event’s 2019 edition carries the theme “Harnessing Global Digitisation to Empower Startup and SMEs”.
