UAE: Abu Dhabi

FIRST GULF BANK (FGB): With assets of Dh182.9bn ($49.7bn) at the close of the first half of 2013, FGB is the third-largest bank in Abu Dhabi and the largest privately owned lender. Established in 1978, the historically retail-focused lender had developed a universal set of services,...

As the largest and most populous of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, Abu Dhabi plays a central role in the federation’s economy. Furthermore, due to being the home of the national capital, Abu Dhabi hosts many of the institutions that orchestrate the UAE’s social and economic development, while the hydrocarbons resources which fall...

Boosting economic integration among the Gulf states has been a central objective of the GCC since the organisation was established in late May 1981. Indeed, while the six countries that make up the GCC – namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – have implemented joint projects in a wide variety of sectors, economic...

The government’s significant role in the domestic economy, and the sizeable fiscal spending that underwrites much of the UAE’s infrastructural development, sometimes obscures another important facet of the nation’s economic development. The role played by charitable organisations in the UAE is a prominent one, and a wide array of institutions...

As Abu Dhabi seeks to transform itself from a resource-based economy to one in which knowledge-based activity accounts for a far greater share of GDP, its labour market faces a transition point. To date the emirate has, like much of the rest of the GCC, had great success in attracting skilled and unskilled foreign labour to work within its...

The UAE celebrated the 42nd anniversary of its establishment in 2013. Over this relatively short period of time, the country’s capital, Abu Dhabi, has rapidly developed to become a thriving metropolis. Although the emirate’s economic growth can be primarily attributed to its vast hydrocarbon resources, it has also made admirable progress...