UAE pursues anti-crisis steps

The UAE used an international financial conference yesterday to renew a pledge to push ahead with measures to counter the global financial turbulence and said the domestic economy would still expand this year. Opening the UAE Global Investment Forum in the capital, Abu Dhabi's top economic official said the Emirates had been impacted by the global credit crunch and lower oil prices like its Gulf neighbours and other countries. But he appeared confident the UAE would overcome those effects given its massive financial resources and flexible economy. Another official spoke about the emirate's first five-year development plan, which he said would focus on specific sectors to be the basis for Abu Dhabi's Vision 2030 Plan. "The economy of the UAE enjoys great flexibility that enables it to overcome the impact of the global financial crisis," said Nasser Ahmed Al Sowaidi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (DED). "We will get over it. Our economy has strong fundamentals, our resources are massive and the immediate measures that have been taken by the government are very effective. These measures will continue to mitigate those effects." Sowaidi said besides those measures, the UAE is pursuing a long-term programme to attract foreign capital, which is the basis for economic diversification. He said more legislations and incentives would be issued to lure in direct and indirect foreign investment. His figures showed the UAE attracted in excess of $19 billion (Dh70bn) in foreign direct investment in 2006, including nearly $4.5bn in Abu Dhabi. In 2007, Abu Dhabi alone received about $5bn in FDI and preliminary estimates indicate an increase in such inflows last year, he added. Ahmed Abu Ghaida, Acting Director of Economic Planning at DED, cited several factors for a positive outlook for the UAE economy, including government measures, strong fiscal position, better outlook for oil prices and an improvement in domestic liquidity. Vision 2030 - Renewable energy, introduction of renewable technologies - Chemical product niches - Basic industries and manufacturing with a focus on areas where energy costs are competitive - Aerospace and defence - Tourism, meetings, incentives and conferences - Oil, gas services within all areas of the hydrocarbon value chain - Transportation and logistics - Education, healthcare - Media content development in TV and other media - Financial services, capital markets - Capital intensive segments of the telecom sector Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the Emirates Business 24|7 daily newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here .