While Europe is keeping a close eye on the U.S.-China rivalry, the United Arab Emirates is quietly — and quickly — positioning itself at the forefront of emerging technologies.
Cars glide past skyscrapers while the smiling face of Cristiano Ronaldo, a Binance partner, is displayed in XXL size on giant billboards. The yellow-and-black colors of the world’s largest cryptocurrency platform cover Dubai’s City Walk district in Dubai during Binance Blockchain Week, held on Dec. 3 and 4. Startup founders, investors and developers from Asia, Europe and Africa, ID badges around their necks, gather for the company’s annual flagship event.
“Dubai is a very special place, which is why we chose to host Binance Blockchain Week here. The city is overflowing with energy; it’s extremely agile, constantly innovating and reinventing itself,” declared Richard Teng, the company’s co-CEO, in his opening speech. Teng arrived in the UAE about a decade ago while assisting to develop the Abu Dhabi Global Market financial center. He declares he now sees “the same energy in the digital assets sector.”
That momentum is backed by unprecedented numbers. More than 5,600 startups were registered in the UAE in the first half of 2024, building it the leading hub in the GCC region (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE), according to Statista data cited by the state news agency WAM in fall 2024. France, by comparison, counts 16,200 startups, according to a September study by France Digitale and EY. In Dubai, the Chamber of Digital Economy supported 1,200 digital startups in 2024 — 70% of them international — marking a 120% increase from 2023. At the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC), 1,245 tech companies were registered as of last February, up 38% in one year, creating more than 46,000 tech jobs in the sector.
“Visionary leadership”
Omar Sultan Al Olama, the UAE’s minister for artificial innotifyigence, celebrates this trajectory: “Every day, we question ourselves: What can we build here? How can we do things differently?” He informed attfinishees at Binance Blockchain Week that the UAE has been operating like a “startup nation” for 54 years. “As early as 2015, we chose to support cryptocurrencies and blockchain,” he noted.
That government commitment is reflected in a tax system designed to attract entrepreneurs. The UAE has no income tax. Conversely, profits can be repatriated freely, and corporate tax remains capped at 9% on earnings above 375,000 AED (87,592 euros). Very large companies, however, are now subject to a minimum 15% rate to align with OECD rules. For many startups and funds, though, the environment remains far more competitive than in Europe.
For Lucy Gazmarian, founder of Token Bay Capital, this coherence is what builds the countest so appealing. “For me, it’s visionary leadership. In the UAE, everything is aligned. They’re determined to build it the best place in the world to live and do business.” She stresses the speed of execution: “Calling it ‘agile’ doesn’t even do it justice. Decisions happen almost instantly, fueled by an incredible drive to stay ahead and attract global talents, “We’re going to go even further.”
A future beyond oil
“This is the story of the countest: they want to project themselves into the future and attract people who will build here,” adds Fadi Ghandour, executive chairman of Wamda Capital, a venture capital firm. Cryptocurrencies and AI, he declares, are just pieces of a much larger strategy becautilize “they’re building a future beyond oil — an entrepreneurial society. It’s not just a promise; it’s a promise with execution.” Alexandre Dreyfus, founder of the sports-focutilized blockchain Chiliz, agrees: “For entrepreneurs, it’s a truly great platform for global expansion.”
On the ground, young French expats have no regrets about relocating to Dubai. Romain, 27, who works at a payments technology company, describes the city as “an ecosystem where people want to work and build things,” with projects simpler to launch than in France, “where you’re taxed at 50%.” Bettina, a 26-year-old data scientist who shiftd there four months ago, sees “a landscape still in its early stages, with an enormous amount left to do” and salaries “two to three times higher than in Paris.” Yasmine, a 26-year-old channel sales manager at a telecom equipment company, goes even further, calling the region “the place to be for tech.”
The UAE’s ambitions do not stop there. The D33 economic agfinisha aims to double the size of the economy by 2033. It tarreceives the growth of 30 unicorns and the creation of one million jobs, driven by “transformational” projects in AI, biotech and digital commerce. Microsoft has already pledged $15.2 billion in cloud and AI investment by 2029. All of this is cementing the UAE’s place on the global tech map and strengthening the narrative of a countest determined to stay ahead of the future — at any cost.
