HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched ‘UAE Centennial 2071’ in 2017 as a roadmap to make the UAE the best country in the world, by the year 2071, when celebrating the centennial of its establishment. The Centennial is based on four key pillars: future-focussed government, excellent education, diversified knowledge-based economy and a happy and cohesive society.
Notable achievements have been made over the past five years, as embodied in the growth of sectors constituting a future-focussed economy.
The information and communication sector witnessed a cumulative growth rate of 27.2% between 2014-2018 which is an annual average rate of 5.4%. Likewise, the education and professional sector, and the science and technology sectors posted cumulative growth of 28.2% and 9.5% respectively, at an average annual growth rate of 5.6% and 19% respectively.
The manufacturing industries sector grew at an average annual rate of 4.2% over the same period. These sectors combined represented nearly 18% of actual GDP in 2018.