UAE businesses urged to invest in North Africa

Abu Dhabi: UAE businessmen and investors are eyeing North African markets, particularly Tunisia, a top official said.

Mohammad Omar Abdullah, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, told Gulf News, "We are encouraging our businessmen to seek new markets in order to diversify our economic sources, benefiting from our competitive and comparative advantages in the fields of petrochemicals, logistics, renewable energy, oil and gas services and banking."

"We are seeking stronger cooperation with the private sector to take some burdens off the government of the UAE," he added.

Contributions

"Abu Dhabi and Dubai economic and trade activities contribute around 80 per cent of the UAE's GDP [gross domestic product]," Abdullah said, pointing out that the UAE is now gearing towards diversifying its economy by relying on partnerships with European companies. "The UAE is one of the most stable countries and a safe haven for business. We are collaborating with European and Asian companies in technology transfer and high quality services," he said.

"We have agreements with the Koreans to launch nuclear plants. However, after the crisis at Japanese nuclear plants due to the earthquake early this year, we reconsidered other safety conditions," Abdullah said.

He added that the country's investments in clean and renewable energy projects amounted to Dh25.7 billion in 2008 and are expected to reach Dh183.7 billion by 2015.

As for the UAE economy, he said the value of investments in the industrial sector hit Dh110.2 billion in 2010 amid expectations that this number would grow by 3-3.5 per cent by the end of the year.

The country's GDP grew at current prices by 10 per cent in 2010 to Dh1.093 trillion, compared to Dh992.8 billion in 2009, he noted.

"We generate a large extent of our income from oil, however this is not enough in the long run and we have to increase the contribution of the non-oil sector to maintain economic stability," he said.

Abdullah added that the share of the non-oil sectors is about 69 per cent of GDP, worth Dh749.2 billion, while the oil sector contributed 31 per cent of GDP worth Dh343.9 billion.

He said that the UAE is focusing on logistical growth as it aims to accommodate further businesses and trade activities in the future.