Dubai: Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, said the UAE economy is “humming” again.
“Our proactive government measures in handling the financial crisis have achieved their objectives,” he said, while formally inaugurating the Global Agenda Summit being held in Dubai.
Shaikh Hamdan said the measures taken included developing laws and regulations related to the banking system, foreign investment, governance, transparency and business practices.
“We have also restructured a number of our companies and institutions to adapt to the emerging post-crisis world order. We have also arranged our domestic agenda to support our ability to continue our dynamic economic development and better define our future,” he said.
Shaikh Hamdan added: “We have supported investment in our infrastructure and completed giant projects on time. We have maintained steadiness in realising our strategic plans, especially in the sectors of tourism, logistics, urban transport, new technology, renewable energy and atomic energy for peaceful uses.”
Meanwhile, Economy Minister Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri said that the UAE will see economic growth of up to three per cent next year, reiterating that growth would be a more tepid 1.3 per cent this year.
Al Mansouri was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the summit yesterday.
Asked about the UAE’s growth outlook for 2010, he replied: “We are very positive about [growth]. My expectation is we will manage up to three per cent.”
The global credit crunch sent the top Gulf Arab economies — Saudi Arabia and the UAE — into a downturn this year, but high state spending and a turnaround in oil prices are helping the world’s top oil-producing region get back on its feet.
For this year, Al Mansouri said growth would be a modest 1.3 per cent.
“If you take inflation which used to [be] 12 per cent and now it’s down to three per cent, if you minus that from the overall GDP growth as it is calculated, we will manage 1.3 per cent [growth] in 2009.
