UAE at a Glance - UAE Interact
UAE at a Glance - UAE Interact
UAE at a Glance - UAE Interact
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<strong>UAE</strong> AT A GL ANCE 2008 @ www.uaeinteract.com/economy<br />
industry, while the chemical industry was second favourite <strong>at</strong> 22 per cent. Most of this investment<br />
was carried out in Abu Dhabi where a figure of Dh38.6 billion amounted to 54.8 per cent of the<br />
total, while Dubai <strong>at</strong>tracted Dh16.3 billion or 23.2 per cent.<br />
Sustained investment in manufacturing has resulted in a 42.2 per cent increase in industrial<br />
establishments over a five-year period. Much of the small and medium-size enterprise (SME)<br />
activity has been based in industrial quarters of Dubai and Sharjah, while Abu Dhabi<br />
has concentr<strong>at</strong>ed on developing industrial cities in the emir<strong>at</strong>e, ICAD1, ICADII and ICADIII, for<br />
basic metals, building products and construction m<strong>at</strong>erials, oil and gas services, agriculture and<br />
food processing, paper and wood products, automotive industries, logistics services, hightech<br />
industries, financial services, pharmaceutical and medical companies, and chemical and<br />
petrochemical industries. Dubai Industrial City aims to increase the emir<strong>at</strong>e's self sufficiency in<br />
light and heavy manufacturing. The project, under development by Dubai Holding's company,<br />
T<strong>at</strong>weer, will cover just over 52 million square metres and is due for completion by 2015.<br />
But it is the services sector th<strong>at</strong> now plays the major role in terms of GDP contribution. This<br />
is especially so in Dubai where it reached 74 per cent of total GDP in 2006, a r<strong>at</strong>io th<strong>at</strong> is repe<strong>at</strong>ed<br />
in many developed economies around the world. Overall, the services sector accounts for about<br />
72 per cent of non-oil GDP in the <strong>UAE</strong>, or 44 per cent of total nominal GDP.<br />
The promulg<strong>at</strong>ion of new property laws in the individual emir<strong>at</strong>es, regul<strong>at</strong>ing the sale and<br />
lease of land and buildings to citizens and exp<strong>at</strong>ri<strong>at</strong>es, kick-started the boom in the real est<strong>at</strong>e<br />
sector. Property regul<strong>at</strong>ions vary from emir<strong>at</strong>e to emir<strong>at</strong>e, with some, including Dubai, permitting<br />
foreign residents to purchase freehold properties in design<strong>at</strong>ed areas, whilst others, such as<br />
Abu Dhabi, limit the acquisition of property by exp<strong>at</strong>ri<strong>at</strong>es to leasehold properties. The land<br />
departments in each emir<strong>at</strong>e are now endeavouring to frame regul<strong>at</strong>ions th<strong>at</strong> will eventually<br />
cre<strong>at</strong>e a unified property law.<br />
Risks in the real est<strong>at</strong>e market are considered to be low compared with other regional<br />
markets and investment in real est<strong>at</strong>e in the <strong>UAE</strong> has gener<strong>at</strong>ed annual revenues of between 20<br />
and 30 per cent, one of the highest r<strong>at</strong>es in the world.<br />
A strong focus on transport in terms of ports and airports, shipping companies and airlines,<br />
together with efficient road networks, has underpinned a str<strong>at</strong>egic plan aimed <strong>at</strong> cre<strong>at</strong>ing a major<br />
transport hub between Europe and South-East Asia.<br />
One of the major success stories in this field is the <strong>UAE</strong>’s avi<strong>at</strong>ion industry. Indeed, <strong>at</strong> 8.2 per<br />
cent growth r<strong>at</strong>e the Middle East avi<strong>at</strong>ion industry is growing considerably faster than the global<br />
average of 5.1 per cent. It is hardly surprising then th<strong>at</strong> 50 per cent of all new airline orders were<br />
placed in the Middle East since nearly a third of the world's popul<strong>at</strong>ion is within a four-hour flight<br />
of the <strong>UAE</strong> and regional passenger growth is about twice the global average. Key components of<br />
the <strong>UAE</strong>’s avi<strong>at</strong>ion str<strong>at</strong>egy have been the establishment of a number of n<strong>at</strong>ional airlines.<br />
A centrepiece of Abu Dhabi transport policy, the Abu Dhabi-based n<strong>at</strong>ional carrier Etihad Airways,<br />
was launched in 2003 and has since been developing <strong>at</strong> breakneck speed, clocking up 45