90 per cent of UAE residents surveyed trust Government

The UAE has topped a list of countries for the amount of trust their residents place in them.

The Trust Barometer 2015 by the public relations firm Edelman found that 90 per cent of 1,200 UAE respondents trust the Government.

It also found 79 per cent trust the UAE’s media, 81 per cent trust non-government organisations and 85 per cent trust business, for a trust index of 84 per cent.

That is higher than any of the other 26 countries whose residents were polled, and compared with a global average of 54 per cent.

Afra Al Ghaithi, from Al Ain, welcomed the news: “I am surprised in a good way. I trust the Government and institutions here because they are worthy of it.”

Ms Al Ghaithi said reasons for trust included good quality of life.

“Life is great here and so are the jobs. So many people move to the UAE for a good job, salary and life so it’s a really well-deserved rank.”

Saeed Al Nofali, of Abu Dhabi, said: “Our Government goes to businesses and creates strategies for the next 30 years about what we need.

“Universities also go to businesses to find out what is needed and they create more programmes to serve that industry, so even though we’re a young country there is some sort of structure that they are looking at.”

He gave the examples of Abu Dhabi’s Vision 2030, Abu Dhabi’s strategic investment company Mubadala, and the sustainable energy zone Masdar City.

“More engineering programmes are being created as a result of our future needs,” Mr Al Nofali said. “The result is that there is a unified structural system that everyone refers to, so when people graduate in the future there will be jobs for everyone.”

India, Indonesia, China, Singapore and the Netherlands took up the next spots on the trust index table. Ireland and Japan had the least trust in their countries.

Half of respondents in the UAE were Emirati, 27 per cent from the subcontinent, 18 per cent from other Arab countries and 3 per cent from western countries. There were a total of 33,000 respondents from the 27 countries.

The UAE also ranked highest in the trust in institutions and innovation categories.

“This year is the year of innovation because the Government realised that for our people to move forward, we need to keep innovating,” Mr Al Nofali said.

“So if you had asked my father a few years back, he was a comfortable officer in the military, he studied, had a family and that was it. But now, to take our country to the next level we need to innovate, as with the Expo 2020.”

He said the generosity of the Government towards its citizens generated more trust.

“They provide us with accommodation and support our education,” he said. “We don’t start life with loans, which is one of the reasons we love our country and which makes us dedicated to it. It is all linked together.”

Mona Al Ali, from Fujairah, said: “Business life in the UAE is much better compared to other countries. I am sure some people also take into account the security, safety and economic development in the UAE.

“I trust the Government here because I am a local and I have their support, but if I put myself in the shoes of an expatriate my trust might be a bit lower.”

Robert Holdheim, Edelman’s chief executive of South Asia, Middle East and Africa said that over the years, the company had found that trust was directly tied to the government’s ability to deliver basic economic needs.

“Very often, you have a juxtaposition between the government and business, so if one scores low, then the other will be high because people have to put their trust somewhere,” Mr Holdheim said.

He said emerging markets such as the UAE had high scores in both.

“The unifying element seems to be to have a job, income, a better life and getting products at the stores, so the provision of basic necessities for the population,” he said.

“The interesting point is that western governments tend to be at the bottom end of the scale but they also deliver basic necessities, so the conclusion is that expectations grow quicker than economies do.”