Abu Dhabi is the capital and the bureaucratic centre of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is ruled by H.H. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also the President of the UAE.
With an area of 67,340 square km, equivalent to 86.7% of the country’s total area, excluding the islands, its coastline extends for more than 400km.
The Emirate possesses bulk of the UAE’s most valuable natural resources – i.e. oil and gas, which fuel government sector spending across all the emirates. Accordingly, it is considered the wealthiest emirate of the UAE in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and per capita income. The average net worth for Abu Dhabi’s 420,000 citizens is AED62m (US$ 17m), and more than $1tr is invested worldwide in this city alone. The Gross Domestic Product per capita also reached $63,000, which is far above the average income of the UAE and which ranks third in the world after Luxembourg and Norway. Worth noting, Abu Dhabi plays a significant role in the world’s economy, for instance, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), currently estimated at US$ 875bn, is the world’s wealthiest sovereign fund, in terms of total asset value.
Approximately 900,000 people lived in Abu Dhabi in 2008, with 80% as expatriates. Abu Dhabi is expected to grow its population from 1.6m in 2005 to 3.1m by 2030. One of the world’s largest producers of oil, Abu Dhabi has actively attempted to diversify its economy in recent years through investments in Real estate, financial services and tourism.
It has been announced that Abu Dhabi alone will spend an excess of $200bn over the next five years on infrastructure projects. The Abu Dhabi Government announced a widespread urban plan “Plan Abu Dhabi 2030” that is designed to establish a consistent and sustainable blueprint for the emirate’s development. The infrastructure projects being planned in the UAE, many of which are still on the drawing board, offer impressive opportunities to international companies and investors. Once completed, the UAE would be considered as one of the major investment, commercial and leisure hub.
