Business | Economy
Abu Dhabi growth to stay on course
Emirate's expansion will be unaffected by the slowdown in the rest of the world
- By Himendra Mohan Kumar, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:02 November 9, 2008
- Al Suwaidi (third from left), Edmund O' Sullivan of Meed events and other dignitaries at the Meed conference in Abu Dhabi yesterday.
- Image Credit: Ahmed Kutty/Gulf News
Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi's economic growth in 2008 will match the emirate's 17.4 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of last year, unaffected by the global financial crises that's expected to slow down growth of some of the world's major economies, Mohammad Omer Abdullah, Undersecretary for the Department of Planning and Economy (DPE), Abu Dhabi said here on Sunday.
"Abu Dhabi will sustain the growth momentum of 2007 in 2008," Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi Conference-2008, organised by Middle East Economic Digest (Meed).
Asked to provide Abu Dhabi's GDP growth projections for 2009, Abdullah said it's a bit early to comment now, but added that indications for next year's growth will be available by December.
GDP
In his presentation at the conference, Abdullah said Abu Dhabi's GDP in 2007 at current prices was at $108.9 billion, while GDP per capita exceeded $71,000.
"The size of Abu Dhabi's economy has more than doubled during the period 2002-2007," said Abdullah.
He said Abu Dhabi's per capita GDP is the second-highest in the world after Qatar.
DPE Chairman Nasser Ahmad Al Suwaidi, said at the conference that the priority areas for the government of Abu Dhabi are: Education, Healthcare, Modernisation of the Public Sector and Economic Div-ersification.
"Today, the oil and gas sector still represents more than 60 per cent of the emirate's GDP. Under the Economic Vision 2030, our government has not only adopted relevant measures to ensure economic stability and sustainable development. It has also formulated a strategy to shift from heavy reliance on the oil and gas industry to sectors of production," he said.
"While we are still at the early stages of the diversification process, the mobilisation by the emirate of its resources to support growth in the targeted sectors, and the $200 billion (Dh735 billion) worth of projects currently established, show our determination to implement our strategy and achieve our vision," Al Suwaidi added.
Modernisation
He said a major reduction in the size of the direct public sector workforce has happened since 2005, aimed at modernisation of Abu Dhabi's public sector.
"Since 2005, we have seen the total number of civil servants down from 65,000 to the current level of 11,000," said Al Suwaidi.
"Not only does this policy aim to make Abu Dhabi government one of the most efficient governments in the world, it also provides many opportunities for the private sector to step in and take over the practical delivery of services, under government supervision," he added.
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