Issue 25 | October 2020
#THEGREENECONOMIST
The UAE’s Green Recovery By Ivano Iannelli CEO, Dubai Carbon
A
post-pandemic recovery response As the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world, little to no industries, countries, and economies were not adversely impacted. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasted a shrinkage in global real GDP by 4.9% in 2020, yet the world’s economies are foresees a 5.4% real annual GDP growth. Within the UAE, the projected real GDP growth is negative 3.5%. The UAE, like other countries in the MENA region and the rest of the world, was impacted by the “double whammy”, a term coined by the IMF referring to impact of the lockdown and the severe oil price drop that took place this year. In spite of this, local authorities were able to quickly and swiftly adopt measures to prevent the spreading of Covid-19, by increasing the
number of testing, imposing movement restrictions, and introducing novel technologies as tools to contain the spread of the virus. Because of the swift response taking by local authorities, the UAE has been able to gradually re-open the economy, whilst many others are still in full lockdown. By opening up the economy, the UAE was able to regain access to the market while simultaneously developing further responses for more efficient and effective strategies to address the Covid-19 shocks. In fact, continued government stimulus and policies have played a significant role in the recovery. The national central bank rolled out stimulus measures worth while Dubai and Abu Dhabi announced individual fiscal packages on top of the UAE cabinet’s for all the emirates. Overall, industry sources have stated that
billion. The UAE’s tourism industry is arguably the most impacted by the pandemic as sectors like tourism and airline are those most this, the UAE’s swift tactics and responses have allowed Dubai to be awarded the “Safe Travel Certification” from the World Travel and Tourism Council, and thus the emirate remains one of the most sought-after international destinations. As the economy continues to normalize, it is imperative that the UAE continues to safeguard the health and safety of its citizens while simultaneously protecting the stability of the financial system. increase in access to finance and support for SMEs as well as continuing efforts to diversify the economy away from oil, allowing the UAE to maintain its role as a leading economy. 39
