Investment climate key to Abu Dhabi's progress

The emirate of Abu Dhabi offers an attractive business environment to investors which has contributed to its prosperity in recent years, a senior Abu Dhabi government official said at a panel discussion Sunday.

"The emirate has many advantages and investment incentives offered to investors... political stability, the growing partnership between public and private sectors, government support for small and medium enterprises, tax exemptions, availability of modern infrastructure, high degree of development as well as transparency," said Shorooq Abdullah Al Za'abi, Head of Development Indicators and Future Studies Section at the Department of Economic Development.

Shorooq confirmed that the emirate's government in line with the policy areas stated by Abu Dhabi's Economic Vision 2030, is dedicated to providing full and continuing enhancement of the business climate in order to build an attractive environment for investment and keep pace with global economic developments.

"I take this opportunity to assure the success of the emirate in overcoming the repercussions of the global financial crisis, credited to the astute government, which has taken the necessary actions in high speed and flexibility," said Shorooq.

Shiref Shabana, Senior Economic Researcher at the Studies Directorate, said that according to the World Bank's Doing Business Report 2010, the UAE has made remarkable progress when it climbed up 14 places, ranking 33rd among 183 countries this year compared to last year when UAE ranked 47th among 181 countries.

"The UAE came this year within the first five countries in terms of reforms as reforms have been recorded in three main areas which are: the start of the project, issuing of construction permits and cross-border trade," he added.

Executive Director of the Members Services Sector Mohammad Ahmad Al Nuaimi said the most important challenges facing investors in Abu Dhabi and the UAE in general are the issue of financing and the associated strict financing policies adopted by banks.

"[It's] the difficulty of access to long- and medium-term finance for investments, in addition to the lack of financial institutions and funds...," Al Nuaimi added