UAE has come out of the war 'exceptionally well', investment minister says

The UAE has come out of the war “exceptionally well” and the continued economic momentum despite uncertainty is driving the government to open new sectors for foreign investment, a senior official has said.

“I think we have to show investors the positive side of this, which is there is opportunity in every crisis, and [we are looking into] how do we present those opportunities to investors, how do we open up sectors that previously weren't open to investors, especially around infrastructure projects,” Mohamed Alsuwaidi, Minister of Investment, told Bloomberg Invest on Thursday.

The UAE is investing heavily in infrastructure with new pipelines and ports to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. It is also looking to expand port capacity on its eastern coast, including at Fujairah, projects that are expected to cost billions of dollars.

The scale of the financing needs was underlined by First Abu Dhabi Bank's plan to raise as much as Dh15 billion ($4 billion) in the country’s largest rights issue, which will help support the country’s infrastructure expansion and diversification beyond oil.

“I don't see a slowdown in what we're doing. We see more opportunities for investors, bigger projects coming to life,” Mr Alsuwaidi said.

“AI is booming, logistics is booming, air freight is becoming a bigger business. Multiple sectors are opening up, and we need to help our investors see that and follow those trends.”

The UAE continues to grow despite the impact of the Iran war. The country was attacked with hundreds of missiles and drones after the conflict broke out in late February, with damage to civilian infrastructure and energy sites.

The UAE's real gross domestic product grew 0.4 per cent annually to Dh961.9 billion in the first half of the year, driven by non-oil business activity, despite the war's impact.

Foreign direct investment into the UAE rose by about 6 per cent last year to a record $48.24 billion, the ninth highest total in the world, according to UN Conference on Trade and Development data.

The Emirates was also the top recipient of FDI in the Middle East, ahead of Saudi Arabia, which ranked 13th, Unctad said in its World Investment Conference 2026 report released in July.

There is no dearth of capital or talent in the country and the government is moving towards new capital models to fund the massive infrastructure needs, Mr Alsuwaidi said.

“I don't see a challenge in the UAE on the funding front. I see opportunity to attract third-party capital in ways we haven't in the past,” he said.

“More and more projects around energy, around industries, around infrastructure in general, are being open to the public through either public-private participation, but also through partnerships with governments or local governments, but also privatisation of certain government assets.”

There's also a high demand in the housing market because people are interested in coming to the UAE, and “we can't keep up with the demand, so we keep building”.

Some parts of the property market, particularly offices and warehouses, were facing shortages, he added.