UAE ranks high on ‘Trust Barometer’

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid welcomes a report ranking the UAE first globally when it comes to people's trust in government and business.

ABU DHABI // The UAE has ranked first for its public’s trust in government and business, a survey has found.

In the 2014 Edelman Trust Barometer published last week the nation ranked highest for public faith in government at 88 per cent, beating 26 other countries including the UK, the US, Germany and Singapore.

And the UAE was equal highest with Indonesia for trust in business, at 82 per cent.

Its trust index – which takes into account the public’s view on government, business, NGOs and media – is equal highest, along with China.

That compares with last year when the UAE ranked sixth.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, welcomed the report on his official Twitter feed.

“According to Edelman, the UAE’s plans and strategies contributed to the trust in performance it earned over the year,” Sheikh Mohammed tweeted on Thursday.

“It’s great to see the rapid progress for the UAE from the 6th to the 1st place over the period of one year only.

“The people’s trust in the Government is a result of the leadership closeness to them and attending to their needs and demands.”

Edelman, the public relations company based in New York, surveyed 33,000 people from 27 countries for its 14th annual report.

The survey joins a long line of reports recognising the UAE’s developments with ever-improving rankings.

In September last year Sheikh Mohammed, also Prime Minister, told the Cabinet its aim should be for the nation to become the world’s best in competitiveness within the year.

Last year’s Global Competitiveness Report on the most efficient and dynamic economies ranked the UAE in 19th place.

Sheikh Mohammed welcomed the UAE’s ranking and noted that it surpassed “important players such as France, Ireland and Australia”.

At the time, he tweeted that the UAE came second globally in foreign investment and technology transfer, first in quality of roads and absence of organised crime, and fifth for infrastructure in general.

Sheikh Mohammed said the UAE was continuously following up on reports “as retreat was not an option”.