Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Amid the worlds’ economy slowdown, Asian economic growth is projected to decelerate to 4.2% this year, 0.7 percentage points less than IMF’s April outlook and slower than the 6.5% growth in 2021. According to an IMF report, Asian economic growth in 2023 lessened to 4.6%, down by 0.5 percentage points.
Still, Asia seems to do better than major western players. New investments may be one of the drivers of keeping up the growing figures. “I believe investments will grow through 2023 in Asia, especially in India and ASEAN countries. The current political turmoil in Europe has slowed the liquidity flow, but we could expect this could soon change and move into the above said markets. It’s to be noted that some best investment choices are made during recession,” commented figures Shadiq Zameen, Vice President of Golden Brokers Dubai and one of the major brokers focusing on Asian markets.
Countries in Gulf (GCC) are doing even better than the rest of the continent. The largest GCC economy, Saudi Arabia, is expected to grow by 7% in 2022, according to The World Bank forecast. UAE’s GDP growth is projected 4.7% and Qatar’s to grow by 4.9% by the end of 2022, followed by 3.4% and 3.6% / 4.5% and 4.4% in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
“Oil and gas have contributed to in making the modern Gulf region however lately we see more GCC countries have embraced diversification and most GCC countries do have growing revenue apart from oil and gas. We see also how the Football world cup has made DOHA a tourist and cultural destination. Similar events are taking place across the GCC which I perceive helps them to keep them still higher than the Asian average,” explained Shadiq Zameen what makes the difference while comparing the regions.
Investment appetite in the Gulf region is also underlined by the growth of retail investment activities as Golden Brokers Dubai confirms. “Our growth numbers look very promising and the general economic developments are favorable for us. Over the past year many brokers have started their operation in Dubai, although it’s competitive I feel this will only benefit the end client.”
