Abu Dhabi invests to diversify its economy (FT)
Abu Dhabi, usually the quite senior partner in the UAE Federation, is changing. Rather than purely focusing on oil & gas as in the past, Abu Dhabi via its various investment bodies (Mubadala, ADIA) will invest over US$100 billion over the next 7 years in various companies & project that will strengthen its long term economic future.
Abu Dhabi which accounts 95% of the oil & gas assets in UAE & 9% of the total world reserves is expected to ramp up investment in oil & gas by raising its production from 2.5 million to 4 million barrels/day within a decade.
The trick today for Abu Dhabi, as the article states, is not to mimic Dubai but to complement Dubai rather than copy it.
“It was deliberate to keep a low profile in the past. We were focused on oil and gas and ADIA and both [companies] don't require any marketing. We didn't have to do anything or disclose anything because we were so rich," says Ahmad Ali al-Sayegh, chairman of Aldar, one of the new property companies. "Now we're still very rich, even richer than before, but we have a new leadership and the policy is to be efficient. Now we'll build houses better and cheaper."
Analysts say the challenge for the government will be to manage the expansion slowly and efficiently and create an economic base that complements rather than competes with Dubai, where soaring prices are raising concern among analysts. "Abu Dhabi is not a mirror of Dubai. Dubai has to work very hard for its living. Here the money flows: you just have to manage it better," says one international banker. Balancing fast modernisation with an attachment to tradition will also be tricky. "The leadership is struggling between the extreme of being completely culture-driven versus being completely modernised. But maybe there's an in-between," says Saeed Mubarak al-Hajeri, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.
Abu Dhabi which accounts 95% of the oil & gas assets in UAE & 9% of the total world reserves is expected to ramp up investment in oil & gas by raising its production from 2.5 million to 4 million barrels/day within a decade.
The trick today for Abu Dhabi, as the article states, is not to mimic Dubai but to complement Dubai rather than copy it.
“It was deliberate to keep a low profile in the past. We were focused on oil and gas and ADIA and both [companies] don't require any marketing. We didn't have to do anything or disclose anything because we were so rich," says Ahmad Ali al-Sayegh, chairman of Aldar, one of the new property companies. "Now we're still very rich, even richer than before, but we have a new leadership and the policy is to be efficient. Now we'll build houses better and cheaper."
Analysts say the challenge for the government will be to manage the expansion slowly and efficiently and create an economic base that complements rather than competes with Dubai, where soaring prices are raising concern among analysts. "Abu Dhabi is not a mirror of Dubai. Dubai has to work very hard for its living. Here the money flows: you just have to manage it better," says one international banker. Balancing fast modernisation with an attachment to tradition will also be tricky. "The leadership is struggling between the extreme of being completely culture-driven versus being completely modernised. But maybe there's an in-between," says Saeed Mubarak al-Hajeri, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.
posted by Double M at 3:04 PM
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