UAE Strengthens Global Leadership in Entrepreneurship for Fifth Consecutive Year
Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates has once again secured its position as the world’s leading environment for entrepreneurship, achieving the top rank in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2025/2026 report for the fifth consecutive year. This accomplishment underscores the UAE’s ability to outperform numerous advanced economies, solidifying its reputation as the premier destination for launching and managing new businesses.
Key Indicators of Success
The GEM report highlights the UAE’s exceptional performance across eight critical indicators among high-income economies. These indicators include:
- Physical Infrastructure
- Government Support and Relevance
- Taxation and Bureaucracy
- Government Entrepreneurship Programs
- Research and Development Transfer
- Ease of Market Entry (Market Dynamics)
- Ease of Market Entry (Regulatory Burdens)
- Entrepreneurship Education
These metrics reflect the robustness and integration of the UAE’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, showcasing an advanced and supportive environment for startups and new ventures.
Financial Accessibility and Support
In addition to its overall ranking, the UAE achieved a commendable second place globally in both access to entrepreneurial finance and the ease of obtaining funding. This ranking highlights the strength of the UAE’s financial system and its commitment to nurturing startups, facilitating their growth and expansion.
The UAE is one of only four countries worldwide to meet or exceed the “adequacy” level across all conditions of the GEM Entrepreneurship Framework. This achievement reinforces the country’s entrepreneurial environment, which is bolstered by strong infrastructure, effective government policies, and digital readiness.
Commitment to Entrepreneurship
Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Tourism, emphasized that the UAE’s top global ranking is a testament to the leadership’s unwavering commitment to entrepreneurship and support for small and medium enterprises. He noted that this success is a result of forward-looking policies that have established the UAE as the most supportive economy for entrepreneurship.
Al Marri also pointed to the recently launched national campaign, “The UAE: Capital of the World’s Entrepreneurs,” which aims to position the country as a global hub for talent, innovators, and entrepreneurs. He stated that these findings align with the “We the UAE 2031” vision, which seeks to enhance the UAE’s status as a global center for the new economy by promoting high-growth sectors such as technology, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, space, and financial technology.
Entrepreneurial Confidence and Education
The GEM report revealed that the UAE scored 7.0 points in the National Entrepreneurship Context Index (NECI) for 2025. This score reflects the confidence of entrepreneurs and investors in the strength and integration of the UAE’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The report also highlighted that the UAE is one of only six countries where entrepreneurs unanimously consider artificial intelligence to be critically important in the next three years. This underscores the country’s readiness for a knowledge-based digital economy.
In terms of sustainability and artificial intelligence awareness, the UAE, along with Taiwan, Norway, and Sweden, received an “excellent” rating in both categories, demonstrating the integration of innovation and sustainability within its business environment.
Global Market Access and Participation
The UAE ranked among the top five countries globally in terms of international market access, showcasing the ability of its startups to reach overseas markets. This is facilitated by advanced logistical and infrastructure networks that connect local entrepreneurs with global consumers.
Entrepreneurial activity in the UAE remains robust, with over one in five adults initiating new businesses. Early-stage entrepreneurial activity reached 19.2%, supported by streamlined procedures and strong governmental and financial backing.
The report also noted high participation rates across demographics, with entrepreneurial activity at 19.6% among citizens and 22.4% among residents. This highlights the UAE’s effectiveness in attracting talent and broadening participation, including significant support for women entrepreneurs.
Education and Family Influence
The GEM report further emphasized the role of family traditions in motivating entrepreneurship. The UAE ranked among the top five countries for entrepreneurship education at the school level, focusing on essential skills such as creative thinking, problem-solving, risk assessment, and opportunity recognition.
The findings from the GEM report confirm that the UAE has cultivated a flexible, well-financed, and innovation-driven entrepreneurship ecosystem. This environment enables ideas to evolve into scalable and sustainable businesses, reinforcing the UAE’s status as a global leader in entrepreneurship.
Source: www.emirates247.com
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Published on 2026-04-26 13:12:00 • By the Editorial Desk
