Qatar jumps three spots on Kearney’s 2023 FDI Confidence Index, ranking 21st globally

Qatar ranks 21st globally and second regionally in Kearney’s 2023 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index with last year’s FIFA World Cup contributing towards boosting investor interest in the country. The Index also features an exclusive ranking for Emerging Markets for the first time in its 25-year history, in which Qatar ranks second in the Middle East, and fourth globally, highlighting the positive impact of the economic diversification efforts as part of Qatar Vision 2030.
The Emerging Markets ranking aims to provide business leaders with additional insights into which emerging markets are most attractive to investors. The robust growth of Qatar’s GDP by 4.1% in 2022, up from 1.5% in 2021, reflects in part the growing confidence of investors. Qatar ranking this year also reflects its rising technological and innovation capabilities, an ever more central priority factor for investors.
“Qatar’s steady rise in the rankings speaks to the power of consistency and momentum. With the FIFA World Cup hosted in the country in 2022, the country benefitted from a surge of tourism that not only contributed to the growth of the economy, but also strengthened the visibility of the country and indeed the region. The success of the World Cup combined with the country’s ongoing adoption of open economic policies, commitment to diversifying the economy and continued investment in advanced innovative technological infrastructure have strengthened the attractiveness of the country to investors,” commented Rudolph Lohmeyer, Partner, National Transformations Institute, Kearney Middle East.

FDICI MENA Rankings
The UAE and KSA were ranked 18th and 24th respectively in the FDI Confidence Index, boosting the Middle East’s presence. The GCC countries also placed high in the Emerging Markets ranking with UAE ranking third and Qatar ranking fourth globally.
The UAE’s GDP grew 7.9% in 2022 with the country anticipated to continue growing at a steady pace in 2023 and 2024 with growth rates of 3.2 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively. The index reveals that the UAE business environment is strong and among the factors that are most important to investors, the country’s growing technological and innovation capabilities stand out.
The Kingdom’s strong performance was fueled by high GDP growth (8.7% in 2022), sweeping pro-business reforms, a strong fiscal outlook, and accelerating progress in economic diversification.
Investor sentiment is growing in other Middle East countries with Egypt, Turkey and Morocco ranking 14th, 15th and 16th among emerging markets respectively.

FDICI Global Rankings
The report from the global strategy and management consulting firm reflects cautious investor optimism about the global economy. Indeed, more than three-quarters (82%) said they are planning to increase their FDI in the next three years and 86 percent cited FDI as more important for their corporate profitability and competitiveness in the next three years. Yet this positive sentiment is tempered by concern about downside risk.
“While investors are generally optimistic about the outlook for FDI, our results this year also reflect a degree of caution,” says report co-author Erik R. Peterson, Partner and Managing Director of Kearney’s Global Business Policy Council. “Investors cited a rise in commodity prices, an increase in geopolitical tensions, and rising political instability in emerging markets as among the top risk factors over the next three years.”
The United States takes the top ranking for the 11th consecutive year. Canada reclaims the second position after falling to third in 2022, and Japan jumps to third place from a rank of fourth last year. Germany drops two spots to fourth, likely as a result of the economic and energy challenges it has faced due to the geopolitical crisis in Eastern Europe. The United Kingdom maintains the fifth position, and France follows closely behind. China jumps from 10th position to 7th, perhaps attributable to Beijing’s decision to drop its zero-COVID policy in the fourth quarter of 2022. Overall, this year’s survey once again demonstrated investor preference for developed markets, which accounted for 19 out of 25 of the countries on the Index.
The 2023 Index also finds that business leaders believe globalization is and will remain the central force in foreign direct investment. A distinct majority of respondents (66 percent) anticipate an increase in globalization in the next three years, while only 23 percent expect a decrease. Those anticipating an expansion of globalization cite a combination of connected digital infrastructure alongside growing trade opportunities and limited trade barriers as the primary driving forces. But investors also acknowledge that globalization is changing.
“While our findings show investors believe in the benefits of globalization and expect it to strengthen, they also anticipate more regionalization over the next three years and that national governments will pursue strategies to increase self-sufficiency,” says report co-author Terry Toland, manager at the Global Business Policy Council. “These results suggest an awareness that while globalization will continue, its nature may be shifting—and business leaders will need to prepare accordingly.”