Capital on track to sustain 7 percent annual growth

Abu Dhabi announced that its long-term target of achieving annual growth of seven per cent in its economy remains on track. The Abu Dhabi Department of Planning and Economy (DPE) said the industrial sector would play a vital role in achieving that target and diversifying the emirate's sources of income.

In 2007, Abu Dhabi's GDP jumped by 18.7 per cent to Dh436.8 billion from Dh368.7bn in 2006 and growth was expected to have slowed down to 14.8 per cent to push the GDP to Dh502.2bn. Figures by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed the private sector leaped by 19 per cent in 2007 and around 7.4 per cent in 2008 while the public sector swelled by 13 and 9.1 per cent in the same period. The oil sector shot up by around 19.7 per cent in 2007 and nearly 18.2 per cent in 2008.