Dubai most competitive in Mideast

Dubai has been ranked the most competitive city in the Middle East and 40th worldwide, the new Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) research report, commissioned by Citi, has revealed.

Dubai is closely followed by Abu Dhabi, ranking 41st globally and second in the region. Dubai scored 55.9 points while Abu Dhabi achieved 55.8 points, the report data showed. Both the cities have been ranked ahead of Barcelona, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Milan, Rome among others in competitiveness.

Released on Monday, the report, entitled Hot Spots, ranks the most competitive cities in the world for their demonstrated ability to attract capital, business, talent and tourists.

“Economic boom is altering the landscape of leading cities more rapidly than at any point in human history. In an unprecedentedly short space of time, cities such as Dubai, Shanghai and Shenzhen have carved out a new physical identity to match their rapid economic emergence,” the report said.

“Dubai, Santiago and Singapore are just three examples of cities with specific programmes in place to attract talent from elsewhere. Dubai is rapidly building a business friendly, zero tax environment to attract workers,” the report said.

The 2012 Cost of Living survey published recently by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) showed that Dubai and Abu Dhabi were among least expensive cities. Dubai fell from No. 78 last year among 140 metropolitan cities surveyed to No. 94 this year – a drop of 16 places.

Citi CEO Vikram Pandit said: "Cities are engines of prosperity and innovation and we are committed to partnering with them to help reach their full potential. But as cities vie for investment, talent and business, we recognize that competitiveness is about more than growth.

"We commissioned this report to improve understanding of market competitiveness and to identify where growth, opportunity and talent are likely to be found in the decades ahead. Its findings provide valuable insight for clients, institutions, and municipalities we serve in cities around the world."

Dubai has been rated high in Financial Maturity sub-index, ranked 21st with score of 93.8 - outscoring Boston, Beijing, Amsterdam, Montreal, Madrid, Kuwait, Doha Copenhagen, Vienna, Seattle, Rome, Oslo, Los Angeles among others. Abu Dhabi was ranked 32nd with score of 90.2 points.

Dubai was ranked 45th and 49th in Institutional Effectiveness and Economic Strength sub-indexes, respectively.

Dubai also enjoyed a high Global Appeal, ranking 31st globally, better than Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Moscow, Vancouver, San Francisco, Geneva, Oslo and many other major cities.

Global rankings

New York, London and Singapore were ranked first, second and third globally in competitiveness, out of 120 of the world's major cities.

With a combined population of about 750 million, the 120 cities ranked in Hot Spots represent approximately 29 percent of the global economy and generated a combined GDP of $20.24 trillion in 2011.

According to the report, the ten most competitive cities in the world are: New York (1st), London (2nd), Singapore (3rd), Paris and Hong Kong (joint 4th), Tokyo, (6th), Zurich (7th), Washington, DC (8th),

Chicago (9th), and Boston (10th).

Since no one city excels in every category, a diverse range of cities ranks first in each of the eight categories: Tianjin (economic strength); Dublin (human capital), Zurich (joint first in financial maturity and institutional effectiveness; social and cultural character); Vancouver (joint first physical capital); London (global appeal) and Montreal (environment and natural hazards).

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