The UAE jumped 5 places to become the 17th most talent-competitive country in the world, placing the Emirates above some of the advanced economies such as Canada, the US, France and the UK, according to the IMD World Talent Report released on Thursday.
The Emirates is ranked even higher in the appeal sub-index — rising four positions to 12th — indicating the extent to which a country taps into the overseas talent pool. This shows that the UAE enjoys strong appeal among professionals around the world, thanks to the tax-free income and career opportunities it offers.
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In the ‘readiness’ factor, the UAE showed significant improvements, moving from third in 2020 to second in 2024 after declining to the seventh position in 2022.
The UAE also continued to lead the Arab world in the World Talent Report 2024.
The country has been aggressively seeking to become a knowledge and innovation-based economy over the next decade.
Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, said on Wednesday that the UAE government is committed to attract the best talents, supporting innovators, and expanding our global investment partnerships.
Regionally, Kuwait slipped 3 places to 31st, Saudi Arabia rose 4 positions to 32nd, Bahrain fell 13 positions to 40th and Qatar was ranked 42nd, losing 12 places in the latest report.
Globally, Switzerland, Singapore, and Luxembourg have been revealed as the most talent-competitive countries.
AI exacerbates exclusion
The report added that economies in which senior executives consider artificial intelligence (AI) to be most visible in the workplace are seeing a rise in discrimination.
Such economies were identified to be higher-income ones such as Japan, Thailand, Singapore, the UK, and Canada, and therefore more likely to experience significant disruptions early on and reap AI’s benefits in the long term.
“Rising discrimination levels could damage economies’ attractiveness to highly skilled overseas staff, even if they are offset by these other factors as they would tarnish its talent attraction and talent retention,” the report said.
“Discriminatory practices — whether based on race, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation — are not going to help attract and retain talent. Beyond that, attracting and retaining highly skilled talent fosters innovation and maintains an economy’s competitive edge,” said José Caballero, senior economist at the IMD World Competitiveness Centre.