Abu Dhabi starts 2nd 5-year plan

The Higher Committee supervising the preparation of the second five-year economic plan for the emirate of Abu Dhabi (2013-2017) has held its first meeting at the headquarters of the Department of Economic Development - Abu Dhabi (Added), as part of its efforts towards the implementation of Abu Dhabi's 2030 economic vision which is based on five-year economic plans.

The meeting was chaired by Mohammed Omar Abdullah, Undersecretary of the Department, and was attended by members of the Committee in their capacity as representatives of the General Secretariat of the Executive Council, the Department of Finance, the Higher Corporation for Specialized Economic Zones, the Statistics Centre, Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development.

The Abu Dhabi Chamber, the Environment Agency, the Western Region Development Council, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), Mubadala Development Company, Abu Dhabi Ports Company, the Urban Planning Council, the Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development, the Abu Dhabi Education Council and the Industrial Development Bureau were also present.

In his remarks at the meeting, Mohammed Omar Abdullah explained that the plan aims to conduct a comprehensive and regular analysis to assess the economic track of the economic sectors in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and to monitor the performance of key development sectors that have been identified in the Economic Vision 2030 as strategic incentive for the economic development in the Emirate.

He pointed out that the Emirate's Second Five-Year Plan aimed at consolidating the process of economic planning in developing economic policies and development projects in key sectors in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to be implemented within the specified time period of the plan, in addition to supporting the development of these sectors using the necessary planning tools and mechanisms.

He stressed the importance of strengthening partnership, cooperation and integration among the majority of government agencies and key players in the emirate to develop the future vision and the emirate's economic track to achieve these fixed goals.

Abdullah also noted that the economic plan will focus on sectors' individual plans, economic sectors' quantitative and qualitative analyzes, international comparisons and competitors at both global and GCC levels for a number of sectors such as manufacturing industries (civil space , basic industries , petrochemical and plastic products), as well as tourism and events , transportation and logistics, renewable energy and alternative energy, information andcommunication technology , media , financial services and insurance, health and education.

Abdullah added added that the plan will take into account the role of the private sector in economic development during the next five years and that a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of the private sector (and the overall performance of the public sector) will be implemented to identify the challenges it is facing and then develop an operational plan in line with the sector's initiatives and results in order to implement its future vision and goals, develop small and medium-sized enterprises, strengthen the partnership between the public and private sectors and implement the policies and recommendations on stimulating the private sector.

Added noted that that the first five-year economic plan for the emirate of Abu Dhabi covered 2008-2012, while the second five-year economic plan covered 2013-2017. It describes five-year economic plans as a key element in the integration of the long-term vision and plans of the authorities since they identify progress priorities at the level of the government as a whole for the five following years.

Added further noted that the first five-year economic plan had good results at the macroeconomic level of the emirate as the statistics indicated that Abu Dhabi's economy was developing in line with the Economic Vision 2030. It says the contribution of non-oil sectors in the GDP increased from 43% in 2008 - the first year of the First Five-year Plan - to 48% in 2012 (the end of the plan).

It added that these results fulfill expectations and confirm that the emirate of Abu Dhabi is developing in accordance with its economic vision towards greater economic diversification.
 

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