UAE: Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi, capital city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has defied critics since its formation as the UAE capital on December 2, 1971. The British announced a total withdrawal from the Trucial States, later renamed the UAE, in 1968.
Area: 26,000 square miles Population: 1,6 million Language: Arabic, English, Farsi, Urdu GDP per capita: USD 22,000 Monetary unit: AED Imports: Machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food Exports: Crude oil, natural gas, reexports, dried fish, dates
Vision and leadership of Sheikh Zayed creates peace and prosperity
H.H. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President
This prompted many skeptics – noting the poverty, history and fickle nature of Middle Eastern politics – to believe it impossible to build an independent nation out of seven emirates.
Yet wealth from oil exports helped the UAE to escape poverty. Under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President of the seven-emirate federation, the UAE is today a nation of peace and prosperity.
Abu Dhabi is the largest of the seven emirates, with 1.6 million residents. It accounts for more than 90 percent of the country’s oil reserves, and 85 percent of the country’s actual output. With the third largest proven oil reserves in the world, the UAE has an estimated output of 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd), projected to increase to four million bpd in the future. Abu Dhabi is thus the wealthiest city in the UAE, evident in its modern skyscrapers and clean streets.
Oil exports began in 1962, transforming an arid land of traveling Bedouin tribes dependent on pearl harvesting, date farming and trading into a wealthy, modern metropolis. Under the leadership of President Zayed, Abu Dhabi is pursuing privatization and diversification.
Oil wealth has given the government power akin to that of a venture capitalist. The government has provided the overwhelming bulk of the funds for the federation’s development, and in Abu Dhabi, every viable, innovative business proposal has the chance of finding funding through the government. This report highlights some of the emirate’s greatest non-oil entrepreneurial success stories.
President Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, referred to by his people as His Highness Sheikh Zayed, has served as ruler of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, one of the seven emirates that together comprise the Federation of the UAE, for almost 38 years. Sheikh Zayed has also been President of the UAE since its creation on December 2, 1971. It is his vision and leadership to which many in Abu Dhabi attribute their success and prosperity.
Now aged 93, the President still actively looks after his country and his emirate and remains much-loved. As Bedouin tradition dictates, Sheikh Zayed is an accessible ruler who constantly speaks with and listens to his people, often visiting them in their homes. Under his leadership, Emirati citizens receive free education, healthcare and land for farming from the government. Sheikh Zayed is assisted by his sons, in particular his son Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
United Arab Emirates Offsets Group
Mohamed Saif Al Mazrouei, Board Member and CEO
The UAE Offsets Group (UOG) was established in Abu Dhabi in 1992 to implement the UAE Offsets Program and diversify the country’s economy by creating business opportunities for the private sector.
According to UOG Board Member and Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Saif Al Mazrouei, the group’s goal is to facilitate the creation of new ventures and the implementation of ideas that bring in technology and expertise to the UAE, create a healthy and competitive business environment and generate profits for investors.
Al Mazrouei, one of the top business leaders in Abu Dhabi, says that over the last 12 years UOG’s role has expanded and diversified into that of a development agency, a venture-capital organization and a think tank. The group also assists the Abu Dhabi government to implement strategic projects on a fast track basis.
To date, UOG has implemented several projects, including some major initiatives such as the Dolphin gas project that will transport 2 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas from Qatar’s North Field to the UAE and beyond through the first cross-border natural gas network in the Arabian Gulf.
Al Mazrouei, who also serves as Chairman or board member of several other prominent companies including the National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed), Abu Dhabi Ship Building Company (ADSB), Union Water & Electricity Company (UWEC) and Mubadala Development Company (MDC), says that creating wealth for UAE nationals is a key goal of UOG.
Al Mazrouei explains that when the UAE purchases military equipment the expenditure does not benefit the local economy. UOG aims to derive economic benefits out the country’s defense procurements through the UAE Offsets Program, which promotes job creation through the implementation of joint venture between international defense companies and local businesses.
UOG currently has over 20 projects in a wide range of sectors including aircraft leasing, district cooling, ship building, fish farming and a healthcare center with satellite links to specialized clinics in the United States and the United Kingdom. It also holds the license for the World Trade Centre in Abu Dhabi.
Al Mazrouei says UOG has played an instrumental role in launching initial public offerings (IPOs) in the UAE and has set up four public joint stock companies, in which more than 200,000 UAE nationals are shareholders. UOG has also positioned itself to serve foreign investors who participate in joint ventures. “We are open to new ideas. We look for ways to make things work better in Abu Dhabi,” Al Mazrouei says.
