Abu Dhabi to set new growth target

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi won't reach its growth target of 7 per cent this year, as stipulated in the emirate's 22-year economic plan, said Mohammad Omar Abdullah, undersecretary at Abu Dhabi's department of economic development.

"We have to make downward adjustments in terms of the growth," Abdullah said in an interview on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi. "The average growth will be 6 to 7 per cent according to the vision; this will not be the case," he said. He was referring to this year, the department said.

The Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 set growth targets of 7 per cent through 2015 and 6 per cent thereafter.

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"Neither Dubai nor Abu Dhabi need to grow by 6 to 7 per cent," Marios Maratheftis, Dubai-based economist at Standard Chartered Plc, said by email. "The issue for the country going forward should be the quality of growth and not growth at all costs."

Shuaa Capital, the UAE's biggest investment bank, expects growth of 4.1 per cent in Abu Dhabi this year, after a contraction of 2.7 per cent in 2009. Dubai's economy may shrink 0.4 per cent, extending last year's 5 per cent decline, Shuaa said in the January 18 report.

The department will focus on industries detailed in the Vision 2030 report. These include energy and renewable energy, petrochemicals, information technology, transport and logistics, as well as tourism, Abdullah said.

The UAE, the Arab world's second-largest economy, is likely to grow between zero and 1 per cent this year, the International Monetary Fund said on January 26.