2015 total direct foreign investment in Abu Dhabi estimated to grow by 8.9%: ADDED

ABU DHABI, 12th April, 2016 (WAM) -- In 2014, the overall growth of foreign direct investment in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi grew by 12.8% to AED 81.1 billion, compared to AED71.9 billion in 2013. The figures came as part of the final findings of the field foreign investment survey carried out by the Statistics Centre – Abu Dhabi, SCAD. The survey covered direct foreign investment for economic activity, the portfolio and other foreign investments in the different regions of the emirate. The findings also included direct foreign investment statistics by country groups, country of origin, regions of Abu Dhabi and establishment known for having foreign investment across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Estimates of 2015 total direct foreign investment in the Emirates of Abu Dhabi showed a growth of 8.9% to reach AED 88.324 billion against AED 81.112 billion in 2014. 18.9% or AED 16.710 billion of these direct foreign investments went to the manufacturing industries in 2015, with a 7.8% growth rate, against AED 15.502 billion and a contribution percentage of 19.1% in this sector in 2014. Ali Majed Al Mansoori, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, ADDED, stressed the continuous uptrend and development in the investment environment of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, which attracts more foreign investment as a result of the efforts of all relevant government bodies to develop and improve the emirate’s investment environment in light of Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030. Commenting on ADDED’s participation as a Diamond Sponsor in the Annual Investment Meeting AIM 2016 Dubai, which started yesterday at Dubai International Exhibition Centre, he said that direct foreign investment has become a key enabler of long term economic, social and human development whenever qualitative investments that serve the real development goals were attracted. "There is growing awareness about the necessity of encouraging foreign investment as a tool for economic diversity. Abu Dhabi has put all efforts to develop the necessary infrastructure to boost and encourage economic development in all fields," he added. Al Mansoori noted that this considerable growth in direct foreign investment in the emirate reflects the extensive efforts put by Abu Dhabi government to promote and invigorate the role of the private sector in economic diversification and development, stressing Abu Dhabi government’s keenness on developing its business environment in general and enhance the emirate’s competitiveness as the UAE has come first, for the third consecutive year, in the World Bank Report in terms of the Ease to Do Business in 2016. In this regard, Rashed bin Lahej Al Mansoori, SCAD Chairman, said that the overall direct foreign investments in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi amounted to AED 81.112 billion in 2014. Most of these investments were concentrated in Abu Dhabi region which received AED 80.463 billion whereas direct foreign investments in the Western Region amounted to AED 484 million and Al Ain region received AED 283 million of direct foreign investment in the same year. Commenting on the results of the direct foreign investment survey released by SCAD recently, Bin Lahej Al Mansoori noted that the European countries had the biggest contribution to direct foreign investment in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in 2014, with 40.7% of the total direct foreign investment in the emirate. Asian non-Arab countries came second with investments that amounted to AED 7.982 billion in 2014. The figures of direct foreign investment by country of origin show that Austria was the biggest investor in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Austria’s investments were concentrated in Abu Dhabi region and amounted to AED 9.503 billion, followed by France who invested AED 8.959 billion. The United Kingdom came third with investments amounting to AED 4.593 in both Abu Dhabi and the Western region. Al Mansoori said that the results released by SCAD indicated that the total investment portfolio (including securities) in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi amounted to AED 57.283 billion, most of which were concentrated in the region of Abu Dhabi, noting that these results indicate that that total other foreign investments in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in 2014 reached about AED 160.364 billion. Abu Dhabi region has the lion’s share of 98.8% of these investments, attracting AED 158.470 billion of the total investments. He said that if we go by regional blocs, the direct foreign investments that came to the Emirate of Abu Dhabi from the GCC Arab states amounted to 3.5% of the total direct foreign investment in 2014. These investments reached some AED 2.820 billion in 2014, compared to about AED 1.614 billion in 2013. He concluded by saying that the total direct foreign investments in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi from the rest of the Arab countries amounted to AED 6.643 billion in 2014, or 8.2% of the total direct foreign investments. Non GCC Asian countries have invested about AED 8.8 billion in 2014, while non-Arab Gulf states invested some 2.8 billion in 2014. Real estate activities continue to attract the greatest portion of direct foreign investment as shown by Abu Dhabi’s 2014 Economic Activities Report. Investment in real estate amounted to AED 23.5 billion or 29% of the total direct foreign investment in the emirate for 2014, noting that construction investment amounted to some AED 7.281 billion in the same year. "The manufacturing Industry continued to be the second major receiver of direct foreign investment in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi at the end of 2014 with AED 15.5 billion of investments or 19.1% of the emirate’s total direct foreign investments for 2014. In 2013, foreign investments in this sector exceeded AED 13 billion or 18.1% of the emirate’s total direct foreign investments for the same year, while in 2012 these investments were about AED 5.891 billion." Direct foreign investment in the emirate’s financial and insurance sector came third by the end of 2014, with AED 12.7 billion or 15.7% of the total direct investments. This is connected to the extent of real growth of financial and insurance activities which amounted to 18% as the government sought to make the Emirate of Abu Dhabi a regional financial hub by launching Abu Dhabi Global Market and the Financial Free Zone, highlighting the world’s best practices and standards. Direct foreign investments in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the field of extractive industries, including crude oil and natural gas, in 2014, reached AED 7,045 billion, almost maintaining the same level of 2013, which was AED 7,267 billion. In the field of electricity, gas, water and waste management, direct foreign investment in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi reached AED 8.279 billion in 2014, while the figure was AED 6.904 billion in 2013. – Emirates News Agency, WAM - http://www.wam.ae/en/news/economics/1395293985353.html