UAE is your country: Mohammed

The UAE has topped the list of countries that Arab youth want to live in, for the fifth year in a row.

This was revealed this morning by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, in a series of tweets.

He stated that: “For the fifth year in succession, in this survey of youth in 16 Arab countries, the UAE ranked first as a location to live and work.”

His Highness also stated that the UAE comes in the first place in the eyes of Arab youth as the preferred country to launch their business. “The UAE was also ranked by Arab youth as their preferred regional startup location. Our message to them is: You are most welcomed,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

“The UAE was also ranked first by Arab youth as a model for successful development, followed by the US, Germany and France,” His Highness noted in a tweet.

The results are part of the Arab Youth Survey 2016, the annual survey carried out across the Mena region.

Data for the survey – commissioned by Asda’a Burson-Marsteller – was gathered through face-to-face interviews of 3,500 people aged 18 to 24, carried out in January and February this year, with an equal weighting among women and men.

Survey Results

The survey highlights that for the fifth consecutive year, the UAE has been named as the country in which most Arab youth would like to live and the country they would most like their own nation to emulate.

The UAE is also viewed as a model country that is economically secure and is the most favoured nation to set up a business in the Arab world.

When asked to think about the country they would most like to live in, nearly one in four (22 per cent) of young Arabs cite the UAE, ahead of the United States (15 per cent), Germany (11 per cent), Saudi Arabia (11 per cent) and Canada (10 per cent).

Likewise, when asked to think about the country they would most like their own to emulate, 23 per cent cite the UAE, ahead of the US (19 per cent), Germany (12 per cent), France (10 per cent) and the United Kingdom (10 per cent). 

To help better understand why the UAE consistently polls highest, the survey provided respondents a series of positive and negative phrases and asked them to choose the ones they associate with the UAE most.

The top associations with the UAE revolve around safety, security and economic opportunities, with ‘safe and secure’ cited as the number one reason by 36 per cent of youth, followed by ‘has a growing economy’, ‘wide range of work opportunities’ and ‘generous salary packages’, which were each cited by 29 per cent of respondents. 

This year, for the first time, the survey asked potential entrepreneurs – young Arabs who said they intend to start a business in the next five years – in which Arab country they would like to set up their business.

The UAE ranked as the most preferred country with one in four (24 per cent) citing it as the top business destination in the Arab world, followed by Saudi Arabia (18 per cent) and Qatar (13 per cent).

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