UAE approves new visa scheme to attract ‘talented’ professionals

The UAE cabinet has approved a new entry visa scheme to attract qualified and talented professionals to the country, it was revealed on Sunday.

UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum called for establishing specialised committees to prioritise the sectors that will benefit from the visa scheme, and to put forward a plan to attract regional and global “exceptional talents”, official news agency WAM reported.

Initially, the visa scheme aims to provide additional support to sectors such as tourism, health, and education.

The new system will be implemented over several phases, the report said.

The first phase will seek to grant visas to “talented” professionals in the tourism, health and education sectors.

In the second phase, the UAE will seek to attract talents in research, technical, cultural and scientific fields, WAM said.

The UAE’s attractive lifestyle, practical policies for financing, and infrastructure will help attract talented professionals and multinational companies to operate in the country, the report added.

The new system was launched on Sunday by General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.

“The UAE is a country of vast opportunity; we aim to provide a tolerant environment that can nurture potential and support outstanding talent,” Sheikh Mohammed said on Twitter.

Future prosperity lies in the creative minds of our people; investing in people is an investment in our economy and success.

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) February 5, 2017

The Emirates has been aggressively diversifying its economy to move away from oil.

In October last year, Sheikh Mohammed confirmed that the contribution of the non-oil sector to the UAE’s economy had grown by over 10 per cent in the past 10 years.

Non-petroleum exports increased during the period from Dhs113bn to Dhs603bn (including free zone trade) with the economic contribution of the non-petroleum sector rising from 66 per cent to around 77 per cent.

“We have continuously stressed in the past 10 years, through legislation and policies, the importance of diversifying our economy away from dependence on oil,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

The UAE’s National Agenda for 2021 also focusses on sectors such as education, health, housing, society, infrastructure, economy, environment, security, justice, and safety.

Read more: UAE’s economy has doubled in the last 10 years – Sheikh Mohammed