In landmark reforms to the United Arab Emirates’ foreign direct investment (FDI) framework, the requirement for onshore companies to be owned 51% by UAE nationals has been scrapped, in amendments to a raft of laws due to come into effect on January 2, 2021.

Full details of a ‘positive list’ of sectors to benefit from the legislation are expected to emerge in the next six months, while economic areas with ‘strategic impact,’ such as oil and gas, will be exempt from the new rules.