In 2020, the UAE was placed among the top 20 countries in 16 global competitiveness indices linked to foreign trade, signaled a new achievement and solidifying the country's position as a central international trade hub.

The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre reported the international sources that validated these accomplishments, most prominently the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) issued by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD). It also comprises the World Economic Forum's (WEC) Global Competitiveness Index 4.0, the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI), INSEAD's Global Innovation Index, and the Legatum Institute's Legatum Prosperity Index.

According to the Ministry of Economy's studies, the UAE's competitiveness study centered on global indexes highlighted the fact that its accomplishments were the product of a variety of factors, namely economic planning focused on a strategic strategy for enhancing competitiveness, which allowed the UAE to achieve an established regional and global reputation in merchandise exchange. In terms of re-exports, the UAE ranks third in the world and first in the Arab region, and a top 20 nation in both exports and imports.

Many global competitiveness surveys identified several optimistic indicators illustrating the country's continued acceleration in trading with the rest of the globe in 2020, amid the global downturn caused by pandemic-related lockdowns. Furthermore, according to new estimates released by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre, the size of the country's non-oil international trade surpassed the Dhs1 trillion threshold in the first nine months of 2020.

According to the data from the centre, the volume of the UAE's exports and re-exports surpassed imports in September 2020, surpassing the Dhs76 billion mark whereas the trade account surplus between the UAE and Arab countries amounted to AED136.5 billion during the first nine months of 2020. The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) placed the UAE first in the Arab zone in the “Trade Openness Index” and the “Current Account Balance Index” in the Arab Economies Competitiveness Report 2020.

The UAE recently attended the 19th meeting of the Financial Stability Board's Regional Consultative Group for the Middle East and North Africa (FSB RCG MENA).

The conference was held virtually and focused on the threats to regional financial stability and the Regional Consultative Group's work plan (RCG). This is in parallel to the G20 roadmap proposals on cross-border transfers and digital stablecoins.

Younis Haji Al Khoori, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, and Khaled Mohamed Salem Balama Al Tameemi, Vice Governor of the UAE Central Bank, represented the UAE. Dr. Fahd Al-Mubarak, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), and Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, co-chaired the conference, which was attended by representatives from the MENA countries' ministries of finance and central banks, and representatives from the FSB.

At the conference, Al Khoori introduced the UAE's most recent report, which includes recommendations for jurisdictional self-assessment of stablecoin regulation and supervision regimes. The paper was delivered to the G20 by the Ministry of Finance last year and was widely received by G20 representatives and the FSB.

Al Khoori said that judicial authorities must assess whether they have the necessary regulatory foundation to resolve the threats that the existing monetary processes pose concerning global digital stablecoins.

“We emphasize the importance of reactivating collaboration and collaboration between governments and international institutions to develop international frameworks that endorse legislative authorities' helping to reform and track digital stablecoins, create confidence in these transfers, and reduce the destabilizing effects of global financial security,” he said.

The meeting discussed the most recent changes to the global financial system, particularly in light of the extraordinary circumstances that the planet is currently experiencing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to ways to improve cross-border transactions, proposals on adopting the G20 framework to improve payment services, and regulatory and supervisory issues related to digital currencies were raised.

While concluding, all members emphasized the importance of developing sound regulatory and supervisory mechanisms for digital stablecoin agreements to enrich them while promoting swift, safe, reliable, and cost-effective cross-border transactions. This is to fortify financial environments in response to threats to financial stability, while also encouraging and implementing financial creativity.

Representatives of the FSB RCG MENA currently involve delegates from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Tunisia, Turkey, and the UAE.