UAE at a Glance - UAE Interact

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UAE AT A GL ANCE 2008 @ www.uaeinteract.com/economy
industry, while the chemical industry was second favourite at 22 per cent. Most of this investment
was carried out in Abu Dhabi where a figure of Dh38.6 billion amounted to 54.8 per cent of the
total, while Dubai attracted Dh16.3 billion or 23.2 per cent.
Sustained investment in manufacturing has resulted in a 42.2 per cent increase in industrial
establishments over a five-year period. Much of the small and medium-size enterprise (SME)
activity has been based in industrial quarters of Dubai and Sharjah, while Abu Dhabi
has concentrated on developing industrial cities in the emirate, ICAD1, ICADII and ICADIII, for
basic metals, building products and construction materials, oil and gas services, agriculture and
food processing, paper and wood products, automotive industries, logistics services, hightech
industries, financial services, pharmaceutical and medical companies, and chemical and
petrochemical industries. Dubai Industrial City aims to increase the emirate's self sufficiency in
light and heavy manufacturing. The project, under development by Dubai Holding's company,
Tatweer, will cover just over 52 million square metres and is due for completion by 2015.
But it is the services sector that now plays the major role in terms of GDP contribution. This
is especially so in Dubai where it reached 74 per cent of total GDP in 2006, a ratio that is repeated
in many developed economies around the world. Overall, the services sector accounts for about
72 per cent of non-oil GDP in the UAE, or 44 per cent of total nominal GDP.
The promulgation of new property laws in the individual emirates, regulating the sale and
lease of land and buildings to citizens and expatriates, kick-started the boom in the real estate
sector. Property regulations vary from emirate to emirate, with some, including Dubai, permitting
foreign residents to purchase freehold properties in designated areas, whilst others, such as
Abu Dhabi, limit the acquisition of property by expatriates to leasehold properties. The land
departments in each emirate are now endeavouring to frame regulations that will eventually
create a unified property law.
Risks in the real estate market are considered to be low compared with other regional
markets and investment in real estate in the UAE has generated annual revenues of between 20
and 30 per cent, one of the highest rates in the world.
A strong focus on transport in terms of ports and airports, shipping companies and airlines,
together with efficient road networks, has underpinned a strategic plan aimed at creating a major
transport hub between Europe and South-East Asia.
One of the major success stories in this field is the UAE’s aviation industry. Indeed, at 8.2 per
cent growth rate the Middle East aviation industry is growing considerably faster than the global
average of 5.1 per cent. It is hardly surprising then that 50 per cent of all new airline orders were
placed in the Middle East since nearly a third of the world's population is within a four-hour flight
of the UAE and regional passenger growth is about twice the global average. Key components of
the UAE’s aviation strategy have been the establishment of a number of national airlines.
A centrepiece of Abu Dhabi transport policy, the Abu Dhabi-based national carrier Etihad Airways,
was launched in 2003 and has since been developing at breakneck speed, clocking up 45