The Establishment of the Ministry of Investment by Federal Decree-Law No. (37) of 2023 on the Establishment of the Ministry of Investment and Amendment of the Jurisdictions of Some Ministries

Recently, on September 28, 2023, Federal Decree-Law No. (37) of 2023 was issued to establish a new ministry and amend the jurisdictions of some ministries. Under this decree-law, a new ministry called the Ministry of Investment was established in the United Arab Emirates to be part of the federal governmental structure.

The objective behind establishing this ministry is to develop the state’s investment vision, stimulate the domestic investment environment, and continuously enhance investment to ensure the country remains a global investment destination.

The law, in its first article, pointed out a significant number of authorities that the new ministry will undertake, among the most important of which are the following authorities:

1. Proposal, preparation, and review of strategies, policies, legislation, projects, and programs supporting both domestic and foreign direct and indirect investments of the state, and coordination with relevant authorities.

2. Addressing challenges and removing obstacles to maintain the stability and sustainability of foreign investments entering the country and supporting external investments.

3. Coordinating with relevant government entities, foreign governments, sovereign wealth funds, and investment funds to unify efforts for investment development.

4. Proposal and preparation of mechanisms for identifying, monitoring, measuring, and evaluating the volume of domestic and foreign investments.

5. Conducting negotiations and making necessary communications to conclude and sign foreign investment agreements.

6. Representing the state in investment negotiations, events, regional and international investment forums related to the ministry’s authorities with investors.

7. Conducting specialized research and studies in fields within the ministry’s purview.

8. Establishing and organizing a comprehensive database for investments and their indicators related to the ministry.

9. Proposing partnership agreements with countries, organizations, and Gulf, regional, and international bodies related to the ministry’s authorities.

10. Any other competencies granted to it by laws, regulations, and decisions issued by the Cabinet.

Furthermore, some of the authorities s of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy were amended by this law to grant the Ministry of Investment all authorities related to regulating the investment sector.

Article 5 of the mentioned law stipulates that the Ministry of Investment replaces the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finance in all rights and obligations related to the activities and authorities of the Ministry of Investment specified in this decree-law, including the rights and obligations stated in any contracts, agreements, or memoranda of understanding concluded by the Ministries of Economy and Finance.

Similarly, Article 5 mentioned that the Cabinet will issue the necessary decisions to transfer the allocations, budgets, assets, and liabilities resulting from the transfer of the authorities of the Ministries of Finance and Economy to the Ministry of Investment.

Attached is a supporting document for this matter.