Saudi, UAE firms plan to increase spending in 2018: survey

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among the top five countries with the highest investment growth expectations, as corporate spending in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is expected to rise this year, according to a survey by American Express Middle East.

Three-quarters of the region’s finance executives plan to increase spending and investment levels by six percent or more, the survey noted.

Saudi Arabia was ranked fourth in the top five list, with 83 percent of respondents from the Kingdom stating to increase spending at the same level.

The UAE was ranked third with 84 percent with China leading the pack with 90 percent, Japan (84 percent) and Russia (80 percent).

The survey included 870 global chief financial officers and other senior finance executives, 17 per cent of whom were from the MENA region.

“Financial leaders are less anxious about economic surprises and have a well-directed view on how to drive business growth,” said Saud Swar, vice president commercial business and head of UAE, American Express Middle East.

Majority or 90 per cent of MENA respondents said they anticipated “modest to substantial” economic expansion in their respective countries this year, slightly higher than the worldwide average of 85 percent.

“This prevailing optimism is tempered with smart strategies as we’re seeing spend directed to specific growth initiatives such as meeting customers’ evolving needs and emerging technologies that support the need to innovate,” Swar added.

According to Amex survey, the "economic, political, social and environmental uncertainty has become the new normal."

Almost 73 percent of the respondents said their spending and investment plans were not impacted by domestic or economic risk.

Meanwhile, 77 percent of respondents said they had a growing interest in expanding enterprise-level risk management systems or process improvements.

Nearly 80 percent of the executives said they were likely to move business to lower-risk geographic areas if pushed over by unanticipated economic headwinds, the survey said.