DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates has approved a national strategy aimed at creating economic clusters that it says will boost the country’s gross domestic product by more than 30 billion dirhams ($8.16 billion) a year.
The “National Policy for Economic Clusters” was announced following a Cabinet meeting chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE. The initiative seeks to group industries, services and institutions into integrated clusters to strengthen competitiveness in sectors including finance, tourism, space, telecommunications, data analytics and food.
The government said the policy is expected to increase the UAE’s foreign trade by 15 billion dirhams over the next seven years.
Other measures approved at the meeting included new national policies on artificial intelligence, cyber security and data protection, as well as an updated aviation emissions plan.
Officials also announced progress in the Emirati Genome Programme, which has gathered more than 750,000 samples and is aiming to reach one million.
The Cabinet confirmed that its annual meetings will be held in Abu Dhabi from Nov. 4-6, covering topics such as education, health, family policy, national identity and the role of AI in the economy.