The Economic Integration Committee held its first meeting for the year 2025, chaired by Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, and with the presence of Alia bint Abdulla Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, and directors of all local economic development departments in the country.

The meeting reviewed the Committee’s efforts and achievements in the year 2024 in promoting the growth and diversification of the national economy. It also assessed the Committee’s contributions to enhancing the competitiveness of the country’s business and investment environment, and to the development of a number of economic legislation and policies in line with global best practices.

Bin Touq said, “The UAE’s economic performance in 2024 is the result of exceptional and concerted efforts that led to substantial progress in our transition towards a new economic model based on innovation and knowledge. As a result, we were able to establish a leading and exemplary economic climate for the success of businesses, investors and startups from around the world.”

He added that these efforts supported the national economy’s growth and competitiveness at the regional and global levels. For instance, the UAE’s non-oil GDP during the first half of 2024 grew by 4.4 per cent compared to the same period in 2023, while non-oil sectors' contribution to the GDP rose to 75 per cent by the end of H1 2024.

Furthermore, Bin Touq emphasised the Committee’s success in enhancing dialogue and coordination with stakeholders at the federal and local levels to promote the competitiveness of the country's economic legislative system.

This was achieved through the review and development of several laws and national policies in accordance with global best practices, strengthening national efforts to ensure the harmonization of legislation and regulations, and submitting proposals for the sustainability and growth of national economic sectors and activities.

The Minister of Economy pointed out that the Committee remains steadfast in its efforts to develop new economic legislation and resolutions to achieve the national goal of positioning the UAE as a global leader in the development of proactive legislation for new economic sectors by the next decade, in line with the ‘We the UAE 2031' vision.

The meeting reviewed the Committee’s 2024 annual report, showcasing its role in issuing and developing five laws and four economic policies governing vital sectors in the UAE, including cooperatives, family businesses, consumer rights protection, corporate governance, and anti-money laundering.

The committee also supported 13 initiatives in critical economic areas. Among these was an intellectual property initiative aimed at fostering innovation and creativity within companies while enhancing the competitiveness of UAE’s products in global markets. Another initiative focused on empowering family businesses, driving their growth and ensuring their sustainability across generations.

The report highlighted that during the past year, the Committee held seven meetings, formed seven national task forces to enhance economic integration and cooperation between federal and local entities, and worked on implementing key economic legislation and policies.

It also issued 79 different recommendations, of which over 98 per cent have been successfully implemented and the remaining in progress. Additionally, the Committee continued its efforts to ensure the effective implementation of the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework, with a focus on regulating company registrars and supervising designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBP) sector. These efforts contributed to the UAE’s delisting from the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF)'s grey list.

The meeting underscored the importance of further developing the UAE’s intellectual property system. This includes advancing collaborative efforts to implement the Ministry of Economy’s ‘Instablock’ initiative, which aims to protect copyrights of live online broadcasts and immediately responds to IP right violations.

Another significant national project, ‘IP Finance,’ aims to facilitate access to financial resources for startups by leveraging intangible assets and patents. This initiative seeks to empower innovation-driven entrepreneurship and strengthen the intellectual property framework within the UAE’s startup and SMEs ecosystem. Ultimately, these measures contribute to the growth and competitiveness of the knowledge economy and emerging economic sectors in the country.