New FDI law to safeguard, lure more investment

The UAE intends to implement a new law to attract foreign investments into the country, Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri said yesterday.

Besides, the UAE Cabinet is on the verge of taking up for consideration the new companies and industries law, Al Mansouri added.

A 'national charter' of the UAE sets guidelines for policy changes that will be implemented until 2021, he said while speaking at the Third Global Tea Forum 2010.

"The aim [behind the investments law] is to protect foreign investments in the UAE, to offer systematic incentives and to incorporate fundamentals of justice," Al Mansouri said.

The country attracted investments worth $35 billion (Dh128.52bn) in 2009, he said.

Al Mansouri said he expects the new law on companies that allows full ownership to foreign companies be enacted in 2010. "A ministerial committee on laws and regulations will submit the draft law to the Cabinet within a month. As part of the process, it will next go through the national assembly [Federal National Council]. We expect the law to be implemented in 2010."

The new company law incorporates changes that have been sought for decades. "Some laws in the UAE have not been updated for more than 20 years," Al Mansouri said.

He emphasised that he does not expect a possibility of deflation in 2010.

The UAE is expected to record a GDP growth of 3.2 per cent in 2010 up from 1.3 per cent in 2009, Al Mansouri said.

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