Abu Dhabi and Dubai have climbed the rankings for the world’s top destinations for global business.

According to the Global Cities Index (GCI) and the Global Cities Outlook (GCO) reports by management consultancy firm Kearney, the UAE cities are growing in stature.

The GCI ranked Dubai as the 27th most competitive city in the world.

The GCI is compiled by gauging a city’s current performance in terms of business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience and political engagement.

Dubai ranked above global cities including Frankfurt, Montreal and Munich.

New York topped the list with London, Paris, Tokyo and Beijing making up the top 5.

Elsewhere, on the GCO rakings, Abu Dhabi was ranked seventh in the world ahead of Dubai in 18th place.

Showing signs of a promising future, the GCO gauges a city’s future performance and considers criteria including personal wellbeing, economics, innovation and governance.

London was ranked top of the list with only Toronto, Singapore, Tokyo, Paris and Munich, ranking higher than the UAE capital.

According to Kearney, cities in the Middle East and the UAE, are catching up to their peers in North America and Europe thanks to “long-term investment in governance and economic well-being”.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai were credited for their “openness to the private sector and robust engagement in public-private partnerships”.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai topped the economics metric in infrastructure and combined with increases in GDP per capita, FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows, and foreign investments, this took Abu Dhabi to seventh overall in the GCO rankings, and Dubai from 32 to 18.