Over 90 Percent of Businesses in UAE Plan to Invest in Metaverse in Next 5 Years

About 93% of businesses in the United Arab of Emirates (UAE) plan to invest in the metaverse in the next five years, a KPMG UAE tech report said.

The report showed that 90% of UAE businesses intend to use Web 3.0 technology in the coming five years.

According to KPMG, 29% of the businesses in the UAE plan to join metaverse within a year, while 24% eye using Web 3.0 within a year, figures which the report described as encouraging.

The report mentioned that the investments in metaverse and Web 3.0 in the UAE would be in the short and medium terms compared to global counterparts.

It also detailed main catalysts which encourage businesses in the UAE and globally to invest in the metaverse. About half of the businesses in the UAE and globally agreed that they would invest in the metaverse when the technologies are more developed and adopted.

The second primary catalyst for these businesses was the need of customers for metaverse-based products and services, however, the report highlighted that UAE leaders are more responsive to the needs of their customers.

Regarding ways and plans of how to deploy metaverse and Web3 technologies, the majority of the businesses in the UAE (71%) said they plan to outsource these services to, or partner with, technology companies.

Commenting on the report, Partner and Head of Digital and Innovation at KPMG, Lower Gulf Fady Kassatly said: “Our report highlights that the UAE is on the fast track to growth, with further investments in emerging technologies playing a transformational role in driving businesses ahead in the future.”

He described the UAE as a torchbearer in enabling digital transformation, as the majority of organizations seek to explore investments in technology to transform their business.

The report noted that the UAE is still maturing regarding data and analytics lower than global, particularly AI & automation, however, about 75% of UAE tech leaders, on average, believe that they have sufficient leadership support and funding to implement their strategy in these two areas.

The report also showed cyber security as a major concern for organizations in their cloud journey.

Over the past few years, the UAE has positioned itself as one of the world’s prominent hubs for metaverse and blockchain technologies. It works on enabling digital assets companies to launch their operations in the country.

The Emirati government, in July, launched the Dubai Metaverse Strategy which aims to contribute $4 billion to the emirate’s economy. The strategy targets increasing the number of blockchain and metaverse companies fivefold within five years as well as offering 40,000 virtual jobs to be one of the top 10 global metaverse economies.