The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has ranked first among Arab countries in attracting investments in the car sales sector for 2024, according to a report by the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman).

The report, released on Sunday, revealed that the UAE accounted for 38 per cent of the region’s imports of road vehicles and their components. Saudi Arabia followed with 23 per cent, Morocco with seven per cent, Iraq with six per cent and Kuwait with five per cent, as reported by the Emirates News Agency (WAM).

In its fourth sectoral report for 2024, which focuses on the automotive industry in Arab countries, Dhaman noted that the sector attracted 184 foreign projects between January 2003 and October 2024. These projects involved investments exceeding $25 billion and created over 102,000 jobs.

It highlighted that five Arab countries – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria and Egypt – secured 145 of these foreign projects, representing 79 per cent of the total. These projects accounted for 89 per cent of the total investment value, exceeding $22 billion, and provided over 91,000 jobs, or 89 per cent of the total workforce generated by these investments.

China emerged as the top investor in the Arab automotive sector, leading with 27 projects valued at nearly $8 billion. Approximately 20,000 new jobs have been created in the region as a result of this investment between 2003 and 2024.

The report focuses on four key areas: the development and future of vehicle sales up to 2028, foreign trade in vehicles and their components for 2023, foreign investment projects in the automotive sector and risk assessments for investment and business in the car sales industry for 2024.