UAE says planned FDI has not been cancelled this year despite Iran conflict; remains on track for $65bn target

UAE investment outlook holds despite regional conflict

No planned foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the United Arab Emirates have been cancelled in 2026, the UAE Ministry of Investment said, even as the USIran war has introduced uncertainty across the region. Mohammad Abdulrahman Alhawi, the ministrys undersecretary, told The National that investors have largely maintained their commitments though some are pausing or trimming timelines and deal sizes as they assess the evolving geopolitical picture.

The message we have heard across the board is: We havent cancelled our plans. We are just either waiting, or delaying a little bit, or decreasing the quantum a little bit, but the country is capable of making up, Mr Alhawi said on the sidelines of the 10th HSBC Future Forum in Dubai.

He acknowledged the overall stock of FDI in the UAE this year may be fractionally lower than the record levels reached in 2025, but stressed the government remains 100 per cent committed to hitting its policy objective of generating $65 billion in annual FDI inflows by 2031. The UAE attracted a record $48.24 billion of FDI in 2025, a figure that ranked the country ninth globally and first in the Middle East, according to UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) data.

Infrastructure push and investor partnerships to sustain inflows

Officials and bankers at the HSBC event highlighted a twopronged approach to maintain momentum: the federal government is investing directly in strategic infrastructure while actively seeking international partners to cofinance projects. Special focus is being placed on ports and related East Coast infrastructure, expanded rail links and oil and gas pipeline projects investments designed both to underpin economic diversification and to reinforce the UAEs role as a regional logistics hub.

Mohamed Al Marzooqi, chief executive of HSBC UAE, estimated the country's project finance pipeline at more than $190 billion. He pointed to large-scale, governmentbacked projects from airport expansion to utilities and coastal developments as the ultimate paymasters that can attract institutional and bank financing. These are the paymasters and I don't think we have even touched the surface, to be honest, when it comes to tapping into those financing solutions, he said, noting domestic banks are hungry for quality assets 100 per cent here in the UAE.

HSBCs research also sets the UAE within a broader regional context. The lenders report, analysing MEED data, identifies a $872 billion pipeline of individual infrastructure project packages across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT) region part of a wider $1.4 trillion planned and unawarded pipeline. That pipeline grew by 54 per cent between January 2023 and January 2026 and increased a further 15 per cent between January and October 2026, underscoring continued project planning activity despite geopolitical headwinds.

Alhawi said the UAE can execute large projects on its own, but it prefers to bring foreign investors into schemes through joint ventures, sovereign wealth fund partnerships and family office coinvestment. We'd love to have partners wherever we can and we've seen actually quite an influx of people saying, Oh, you're building infrastructure, so let's work with you, which is great. A very positive sign, he said.

Resilience builds investor confidence

Officials argue that, paradoxically, the protracted conflict has helped demonstrate the UAEs resilience and crisis management capabilities to international investors. That demonstration may, in time, reinforce confidence and attract more capital. I think, maybe not immediately but in the next few years, that will definitely be a positive thing, as more investment is coming, Mr Alhawi said.

Even with intermittent delays or smaller deal sizes in the short term, policymakers expect the UAE to sustain FDI in the $40 billionplus range for several years as it prepares to push towards the $65 billion target. The combination of sovereign balance sheets, a deep domestic banking market, large projects in need of funding and growing appetite from global institutions and asset managers creates multiple channels to finance infrastructure and support FDI inflows.

For investors watching the region, the takeaway from officials and bankers at Dubais forum was clear: planned projects remain broadly intact, the pipeline is large and active, and the UAE is doubling down on infrastructure and partnership strategies to secure future capital flows. That, officials say, should keep the Emirates on course to meet its longterm FDI ambitions despite nearterm geopolitical noise.

Updated: October 20, 2026.