Emirates rated ahead of Canada, Malaysia, Norway, Sweden, USA, UK and The Netherlands
The UAE retained its positions among the world’s top three countries in terms of attractive markets for infrastructure investment.
According to design and consultancy firm Arcadis, nations with secure business environments, stable financial sectors, and strong growth potentials such as Qatar and the UAE still remain the top most attractive markets for infrastructure investors.
The UAE was ranked ahead of Canada, Malaysia, Norway, Sweden, USA, UK and The Netherlands by investors as an attractive nation for infrastructure investments.
Better investor opportunities – according to Arcadis – may lie in the operation and maintenance rather than the construction of the infrastructure asset in the four countries namely UAE, Canada, Malaysia and Norway.
The top ten most attractive countries for long term infrastructure investment in 2016 are:
Despite infrastructure being a long term investment, Arcadis’ third Global Infrastructure Investment Index also highlighted that short term factors such as currency devaluations, commodity prices and security issues can be a barrier to investment. Given these issues, nations such as the UAE, which has traditionally funded infrastructure through the public sector is opening up to private finance, which could bridge the funding gap for the development of much needed new infrastructure, including the extension of Dubai’s metro.
Ben Khan, Middle East Client Development Director at Arcadis, said: “Infrastructure is an increasingly popular asset class for private sector investors, particularly in times of increased risk and uncertainty. Whilst opportunities have been limited in the region due to falling export revenues, as we see more GCC countries opening up to private finance, this can create opportunities for investors in the short to medium term.”
The report findings revealed that Saudi Arabia has dropped three places to 15th due to a decline in the relative size and dynamism of the market and the impact of relatively low infrastructure scores.
Sameer Daoud, Middle East Leader – Infrastructure, at Arcadis said: “Although we see a fall in Saudi Arabia’s ranking this year, there is much greater growth potential for the country in the future as the government recently announced its Vision 2030 reform plan, which reassesses its economic and social policies in a way that is designed to free the country from dependence on oil exports.”
The Global Infrastructure Investment Index is published every two years and ranks 41 countries by their attractiveness to investors in infrastructure
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