Business-friendly regulations, investment in technology, relatively good connectivity and a first-class transportation infrastructure, continue to keep the UAE at the forefront of Middle Eastern and African locations that are attracting foreign tech talent and companies, according to a new report from Velocity Global, a recruitment and professional employment organization (PEO).
The pandemic hit the UAE hard, so its high rank relative to other Middle East and African countries on Velocity's 2020 Global Expansion Tech Index should be good news for the country's private enterprises and government entities, which rely heavily on foreign workers to do technology jobs, and also for the Emirates' business culture, which favours face-to-face meetings and personal relations.
COVID exacted an especially high toll on the economy of Dubai, which depends on real estate and tourism. The postponement by a year of the giant Dubai Expo, an officially designated world's fair and a showcase for IoT (internet of things) that had been scheduled to start in October, has been an especially heavy blow.