United Arab Emirates - PM Communications

INTRODUCTION / 2UAE 3rd NOVEMBER 2007continued from page 1does.“By judicious use of our oil wealth we havedeveloped an excellent physical infrastructure,acompetent administration and an educated population.Alot has been done in terms of diversifyingthe economy in a number of sectors, includingtourism, finance, manufacturing and theservices sector in general.”Last year, UAE recorded a nominal – unadjustedfor inflation – GDP growth rate of 23.4per cent,with an overall nominal GDP of around£80 billion.The contribution of the non-oil sectorwas 62.5 per cent,driven principally by constructionand tourism. The finance,manufacturing,transport, telecommunications, healthcareand education sectors are all expanding. Therehas been a marked increase in non-oil exports.The free trade zones are booming,and the countryhas a rapidly increasing role as a re-exportand distribution centre.A report in April 2007by the World Economic Forum ranked the UAEas the most competitive economy in the Arabworld and the 29th most competitive globally.In addition to reinvestment of petrodollars,a major factor in the development of the UAEin recent years has been the tremendous increasein the amount of foreign investment cominginto the country. The UAE leads the MiddleEast region in attractingFDI, ranking fifteenthin the worldout of 144 economiesin UNCTAD’s FDIperformance index.IMF figures in 2006 indicatedan inflow of£6.3 billion comparedwith £4.5 billion inSHEIKHA LUBNAAL QASIMIMinister ofEconomySAEED ALMANSOORIMinister ofGovernmentSector Development2004. This investorinterest is promptedby political stability,dramatic economicgrowth and thefavourable businessenvironment that thegovernment has strivento create and continuesto improve.The federal governmenthas showndetermination to raiseits own game,throughmoves towardsgreater openness,effectivenessand efficiency.Arecently unveiledgovernmentstrategy plan calls formodernisation of thecivil service and improvementsin government services to bringthem in line with international standards.Specialemphasis will be placed on education,healthcareand judicial services.E-government programmesand coordination between federal and local authoritiesare to be strengthened.Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori,who heads thenew Ministry of Government SectorDevelopment,says that an evaluation has beencarried out at every ministry. “We have lookedat the services provided to the public accordingto their standards,their speed and the waythey can combine with each other.We have alsolooked at the implementations of technologyand how that can enhance the serviceprocess that we have.” ●ABU DHABIONE OF THE WORLD’SRICHEST CITIESPLANS ITS FUTUREOpened in 2005, the Emirates Palace Hotel is the most expensive hotel ever built. Its many attractions include more than 200 fountainsThe source of most of the UAE’s oil wealth, Abu Dhabi isplanning to develop its capital as a major world cityOne of the most remarkable symbols ofAbu Dhabi’s wealth is the recentlyopened Emirates Palace.The most expensivehotel ever built, its construction cost some£1.5 billion.The interior is decorated with goldand marble and 1,000 crystal chandeliers.Twenty thousand roses are displayed in itsrooms and public spaces every day. There isan archway clad in Italian stone that is largerthan the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.The GrandAtrium, the largest of the hotel’s114 domes,is higher than the dome of St Peter’s Basilicain Rome, and in the 600 acres of exotic parkgrounds more than 200 fountains play.It is the kind of place you might expect tofind in one of the richest cities in the world.However, you might not expect one of theworld’s richest cities to be located in thedesert.Welcome to Abu Dhabi City,the capitalof the emirate of Abu Dhabi, the federalseat of government of the UAE, and thecountry’s oil centre.Located on a T-shaped island jutting into theArabian Gulf where, within living memory,there once stood a small settlement of reedand mud-brick huts occupied by pearl fishers,Abu Dhabi City has an estimated populationof 1.8 million,the majority of them expatriateworkers from countries like India,Pakistan,Egyptand the Philippines. Now mega developmentplans are afoot to transform the city into abenchmark for 21st century world capitals.The largest of the seven emirates, AbuDhabi covers around 87 per cent of the landarea of the UAE and sits on 94 per cent ofthe country’s oil – about 10 per cent of globalreserves.In addition,it plans to become oneof the top exporters of natural gas, of whichit has 5 per cent of the world’s total. Accordingto Moody's Investors Service, the emirate’snominal GDP per capita reached £30,900 lastyear, the third highest in the world.Overflowing with petrodollars as a resultof the high international price of oil,Abu Dhabialready has the world’s largest state-ownedinvestment fund to play with.The economy isexpanding rapidly, and according to a recentreport from the Abu Dhabi Chamber ofCommerce and Industry,the emirate is set toattract a total of more than Dh1 trillion in localand foreign capital.Less well-known than its neighbour Dubai,Abu Dhabi has big plans to raise its profileand become an internationally recognised destinationfor business and tourism. Billions ofdollars worth of real estate projects areplanned and construction activity in the emirateis predicted to overtake that in Dubai bythe end of the decade.Foreign direct investment will make a crucialcontribution to Abu Dhabi City’s hugelyambitious urban development plans forthe next 20 years. The recently unveiledmasterplan – Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 – calls forestimated investment totalling £80 billion totransform the city into a major world capitalin which 3 million people will live, workand enjoy their leisure.The plan envisages two main complementarycores.The Central Business District will bethe centre of finance and commerce and themain employment hub.Centred on Al SuwwahIsland,it will unite into a single area the currentcommercial districts of Al Suwwah Island, AlReem Island and Port Zayed,which is to be relocated.Tenor more bridges will knit Al Suwwahand Al Reem Islands into the fabric of the city.Local and federal government offices will beconcentrated in a new Capital District, to belocated on the mainland to the east of thecity, focusing the functions and image of governmenton a single iconic precinct as in othergreat capital cities around the world.These two core districts will be the majorcentres of office space.A smaller employmentand residential area will be created in the Al BateenAirport redevelopment zone in the GrandMosque District, at the southeast side of AbuDhabi Island,and the Lulu Island District will becontinued on page 4Produced by PMC Ltd, who take sole responsibility for the contentsPMC Ltd. Empire House, 175 Piccadilly, London W1J 9TB, Fax: (020) 7409 2871Team responsible for the report on the UAE:ALEXANDER DE LA MARE & LAILA BASTATIThis and other PM Communications reports can be read online at www.pmcomm.com