Gulf In Focus - Steady outlook for Dubai's economy this year.

Dubai's economy started 2022 on a strong note, posting an annual gross domestic product growth of 5.9 percent, according to preliminary data by the Dubai Statistics Centre.

The fastest-growing sectors in the first quarter were hospitality, and transport and storage, which expanded 47 percent and 40 percent, respectively, off the low base of the first quarter of 2021, when many travel restrictions were still in place.

The strong performance of the tourism sector continued into the second quarter, with total visitor numbers reaching 6.2 million in the first five months of the year, 14 percent below pre-coronavirus levels.

Hotel occupancy in Dubai increased to 73.1 percent in May this year, compared with 58.5 percent a year ago, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) - an industry benchmark - rose 46 percent, year on year, even as the supply of rooms grew by 9 percent during the period.

The real estate services sector, surprisingly, slowed in the first quarter of this year, expanding 1.3 percent annually after posting a growth of more than 20 percent, year on year, in 2021.

UAE-Indonesia trade deal will boost the halal economy

The UAE and Indonesia have signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that will turbocharge bilateral trade to $10 billion in the next five years. It

's the third such deal we have signed following those with India and Israel, but the first promising to unlock the untapped potential of the halal economy.

Indonesia is the world's fourth-most populous country and the largest economy in South-East Asia. Together with the CEPA we already signed with India - where a large share of the population is Muslim - and the trade agreement that we expect to sign soon with Turkey, we will have markets of more than 1.7 billion consumers open to us. These countries enjoy strong population growth and an expanding middle class. Each is unique in terms of preferences and potential, but nothing exemplifies the social and economic opportunities more than the halal economy.

The halal economy is on track to become one of the world's fastest-growing sectors and could be worth $3.2 trillion by 2024. It will be driven by a growing Muslim population set to hit 2.6 billion people and represent nearly 30 percent of the world's population by mid-century. As this high-potential network of consumers expands, competition to provide the goods and services they seek will intensify.

UAE approves 22 policies to boost economy

The UAE has...