By IANS
Dubai : In a bid to encourage foreign investment in Abu Dhabi, the emirate will relax laws to increase foreign ownership of industrial projects.
Jaber Al Khaili, chief executive of Higher Corporation for Specialized Economic Zones (Zones-Corp) has said new foreign investment legislation will be issued in the next few days that will raise foreign investors’ share in the ownership in new industrial projects, according to a local newspaper.
“The current 49 percent will be considerably increased in sectors that are most in need of foreign investments. Our aim behind this is to give a strong push to the industry in Abu Dhabi,” he told the Emirates Business 24 X 7 newspaper.
Abu Dhabi Executive Council will soon draw up the legislation, he added.
He, however, said that 100 percent foreign ownership of projects is not a possibility now.
“One hundred percent is impossible in the meantime. But there are good percentages that will considerably attract foreign investments.”
“We will attempt to provide all factors of success for foreign investment. There are important industrial sectors that need to significantly raise the percentage of possession,” the report quoted him as saying.
Attracting foreign investment was at the top of the agenda at the annual Abu Dhabi Economic Forum (ADEF), which concluded in the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sunday.
Over 1,000 foreign and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) investors took part in the forum and government representatives indicated that foreign capital would be encouraged to play a role – especially in industry, infrastructure and real estate – in the emirate’s master plan, Abu Dhabi Plan 2030.
Around 1.3 billion dirhams ($354.1 million) in new projects were announced at ADEF 2008 and these will be implemented over the next two years in industry, infrastructure and real estate.
Naser Ahmed Khalifa Al Suwaidi, head of planning and economy department, said that over the next few years, Abu Dhabi will spend over 91.8 billion dirhams ($25 billion), including 36.7 billion dirhams ($10 billion) on infrastructure projects such as Khalifa Port, an industrial area, a train network, expansion of the Abu Dhabi International Airport and expansion of Emirates University.
In addition, 55 billion dirhams ($15 billion) will be pumped into refinery capabilities, industrialisation, marketing and oil and gas distribution projects.
President of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Salah Al Shamsi said at the forum that Abu Dhabi’s economy would grow between 8.2 and 13 percent in the next few years.
This, he said, was because of sudden rise in the emirate’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007, which is expected to have crossed 400 billion dirhams ($109 billion). By 2010, the GDP is projected to touch 584 billion dirhams ($159 billion).