The UAE could benefit from the current political upheavals sweeping the Middle East and North Africa as foreign investors scared off by the turmoil could head for the UAE given its stability, an Abu Dhabi official said on Tuesday.
Mohammed Omar Abdullah, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), said the UAE had attracted more than 279 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects over the past year, worth nearly $10 billion, one of the highest levels in the region.
"Amid the unrest and political chaos in MENA, the UAE provides a unique model of political and economic stability in the region; which enhances its chances for attracting more investments during the next stage", Abdulla told an investment conference in Abu Dhabi, attended by over 400 delegates.
"This comes in conjunction with packages of incentive, favorable procedures and sound economic legislation to stimulate the investment environment. In the forefront comes a new law on foreign investment and another for the Protection of Competition in addition to amendments to laws on the protection of intellectual property and patents and industrial designs".
Abdullah said the investment climate in the UAE is further strengthened by the keenness of the UAE leaders to support business activity, referring to the recent decision by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan to allocate Dh5.7 billion for infrastructure projects in the Northern Emirates, “which marked a real addition to the investment stimulus packages in the UAE.”
“Despite the current circumstances, we will not be overly optimistic if we reveal our hope and quest to acquire a leading position for our country, as the most attractive destination for FDI in the Middle East this year. This dedication came to emphasize the status achieved by the UAE during the past two years.”
He said that despite the preliminary opinions about the prospects of investment in the region, a careful reading of the national and regional investment opportunities reveals a better future and wider investment horizons in the international arena in general and the UAE in particular.
"The close review of the international investment map, in the light of current international reports, reveals cautious revival of foreign direct investments, and in spite of the relatively low level of performance last year compared to 2009, it is still generally better than it was before 2008,” he said.
“The international investment map unveils a distinct diversity in the nature of the risks faced by foreign direct investment from one region to another. These vary from the sluggish economic recovery in some areas, to the crisis of sovereign debt in other areas, and the adversity of the instability of exchange rates… risks also embrace the recent, new waves of political unrest. However; these crises in entirety pose real challenges to investment expansions plans".
Turning to Abu Dhabi’s economy, the largest in the UAE, Abdullah said the 2008 global financial crises was a real test for the soundness and strength of the economy of the Emirate and its ability to cope with all international and regional economic variables. “The crisis also revealed and established the extent of the economy's integration into the global economic system; and the degree of openness of the Emirate to global markets.”
He said Abu Dhabi is following the path of the road map drawn by the Emirate’s Economic Vision 2030, which aims at releasing the hidden potential in the economy; and stressing openness to foreign investment, through the adoption of sound policies and legislation to stimulate development in all fields.
His figures showed growth in the non-oil sector exceeded six per cent in 2009 and this allied with lower crude prices to boost the non-hydrocarbon sector to more than 50 per cent of total GDP of the Emirate.
"Vision 2030” was planned to reach that figure by 2015. This confirms the balanced approach followed by the emirate, which is based on the expansion and diversification of the domestic production base and sources of income.”
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