The UAE tops the list of emerging economies and "cooperation" countries in the annual "Agility" index

The UAE topped the list of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in terms of the most competitive emerging markets and ranked third in the world after China and India, according to the annual "Agility" logistic index of emerging markets for the year 2022.

The UAE also surpassed all 50 countries included in the index for providing the best business environments and digital readiness, a new category added for the first time in this year's index.

The UAE topped all 50 countries in terms of basics of doing business, a classification in which the countries of the Arab Gulf, the Middle East and North Africa were distinguished.

In the general classification, along with the UAE, Saudi Arabia ranked sixth and Qatar seventh among the top 10 emerging markets in the 2022 index, which was led by China in first place and India second.. The performance of the Sultanate of Oman came in 14th place, Bahrain 15th and Kuwait 17th as well. .

The index, released this year in its thirteenth annual edition, ranks 50 leading emerging markets in the world in terms of their competitiveness based on their logistical strengths and business climate.

This year, the index also included, for the first time ever, the extent of digital readiness of countries, which are factors that enhance the attractiveness of these markets for logistics service providers, agents, shipping lines, airlines, distributors and investors.

The questionnaire for this year's index included 756 specialists in the supply chain sector.

The list of the top ten countries in digital readiness includes the UAE, Malaysia, China, Saudi Arabia, India, Thailand, Qatar, Indonesia, Chile and the Philippines.

Kuwait ranked 12th and Oman 15th in advanced positions for this classification as well.

Tariq Sultan, CEO of Agility, said that the relationship between growth prospects and the potential of digital countries cannot be ignored, as determining the competitiveness of emerging market countries will depend on their ability to develop companies with digital skills, competencies and diverse talents and find solutions to reduce emissions in ways that stimulate growth.

He added that the optimism of the logistics sector reflects the fact that emerging economies are becoming more resilient and are looking for ways to overcome supply chain disruptions. If emerging markets gain better access to vaccines and strengthen the small business sector, they will be able to help promote a dynamic broad-based recovery around the world. .

It is noteworthy that the "Digital Readiness" category assesses digital skills, training, internet access, e-commerce growth, investment climate, the ability to incubate start-ups, as well as sustainability factors such as promoting and adopting various renewable energy sources, green initiatives and efforts to reduce emissions.

The importance of digital readiness was one of the most prominent factors in the survey, where the executives of the logistics sector said that the adoption of modern technologies is the main driver of economic and commercial growth for emerging markets, knowing that technology and sustainability were the most important areas that companies focus on.

Most of the logistics industry executives see moderate to strong economic growth and little or no chance of a recession in 2022, despite continued supply chain disruptions caused by the congestion of major ports and astronomical prices for sea and air freight caused by the “Covid-19” pandemic.

Nearly two-thirds of the 756 logistic professionals surveyed by the index believe that freight rates will decrease by the end of the year, while 80% believe that port congestion, lack of air freight capacity and road transport problems will decline by the end of the year.

For his part, John Manners Bell, CEO of "Transport Intelligence" - which specializes in analysis and research in the logistics sector - said that the speed of emerging markets' recovery from the crisis of the past two years depends largely on the speed of the vaccine being launched, at least from the perspective of social, economic and political cohesion.

He added, "The factors that were the link between the economies of emerging countries and Western markets must be revived, as the "Covid-19" pandemic has increased the complexities and cost of shipping and made it more slow, especially for small and medium-sized companies.. Digitization will play an important role in facilitating shipping operations without Cross-border friction But in the long term, emerging markets will only be able to benefit from the benefits of globalization if they can make supply chains and logistics services more resilient in the face of emerging crises.

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