Retaining expatriate wealth will prove crucial for the long-term growth of GCC economies, highlighted a report released during the World Governments Summit (WGS) in Dubai on Wednesday.
The economic benefits of attracting highly-skilled professionals include advancing knowledge transfers, enhancing innovation and entrepreneurship, and raising levels of consumer spending.
“We are witnessing a global rise in the competition for the expatriate ‘silver dollar’ as working populations live longer and retire earlier,” said Robert Ansari, Wealth Leader, Mercer IMEA, a co-author of the report.
He noted: “GCC countries like the UAE – because of their significant proportion of high-net-worth international expatriates – could benefit from more expatriates staying for retirement.”
“By undertaking a range of social and financial reforms that make it easier to save, access and move money, there are a number of economic benefits for countries like the UAE which can retain a mobile and affluent demographic into retirement,” Ansari underscored.
‘Incentivise expats’
The number of expatriates in the GCC is expected to continue to grow as workforces become more mobile and have more choices over where they live, work and retire.
Mohamed Yousef AlSharhan, WGS managing director, said: “In today’s globalised and interconnected world, world-leading talents have the world at their feet. For the Gulf nations to continue attracting and retaining these talents, they must find ways to continuously incentivise them to come and stay in the long-term.”
“The (Mercer) report makes this point clear… so that leaders and policymakers can make more informed decisions about maintaining and elevating the attractiveness of their work and business environments,” said AlSharhan.
Technology and financial services sectors offer the most opportunities for expatriate workers. The report noted GCC countries are actively encouraging technology companies and start-ups to relocate to newly created tech hubs, while multinational financial institutions are looking to hire or move employees to offices in global financial hubs.