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Abu Dhabi’s sharia-compliant finance sector, traditionally led by its Islamic banking industry, has expanded to include an increasing array of activities in areas such as insurance offerings and asset management. An environment of low oil prices has put pressure on margins in 2016 but, with nearly a quarter of assets in the UAE held by sharia-compliant institutions, the industry is firmly entrenched and well positioned to take advantage of growth opportunities as they arise. This chapter contains an interview with Tirad Al Mahmoud, CEO, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.

Despite the headwinds of low oil prices and recent regional political turbulence, Abu Dhabi’s stock exchange put in a relatively strong performance in 2016, with the main index posting a 5% gain for the year. A sizeable sovereign bond sale also injected life into the emirate’s nascent debt market, reviving a yield curve that had been interrupted by a seven-year absence of sovereign issuances. The emergence of Abu Dhabi’s new financial free zone, meanwhile, has opened up a range of possibilities for the future expansion of the emirate’s capital markets, both in terms of financial support services and core investment and trading activity.

Despite undergoing a profitability squeeze in 2016, Abu Dhabi’s banking sector nonetheless demonstrated its ability to expand its asset base during a period of difficult economic conditions. A recovery in deposit growth means that liquidity concerns have abated, while the stabilisation of oil prices and continued expansion of the non-oil economy brought cheer at the outset of 2017. The sector also appears to be on the brink of a long-anticipated phase of consolidation, in which a number of its biggest names are contemplating joining forces and reshaping the local market. This chapter contains an interview with Khalifa Mohammed Al Kindi, Chairman, Central Bank of the UAE.

Abu Dhabi has long been associated with buy-side investment activity, thanks largely to its success in transforming fiscal surpluses into global investments aimed at ensuring future economic security. However, after two full years of lower oil prices, Abu Dhabi’s attractiveness as a destination for inward investment has become more pertinent, with the government seeing boosting foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows as a useful means of mitigating its spending cuts. The same pressures highlight the importance of diversifying the emirate’s export basket, which is dominated by oil and related products. The UAE’s strong performance in indexes such as the World Economic Forum’s “Global Enabling Trade Report” illustrates Abu Dhabi’s capacity to boost its non-oil export activity, and realising this potential is now a strategic imperative. This chapter contains interviews with Mohamed Thani Murshed Al Rumaithi, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and Ahmed Al Sayegh, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Global Market.

Economies around the Gulf region have faced a challenging economic environment since the second half of 2014, but a more optimistic outlook for international oil prices in 2017 has offered some welcome relief. The process of fiscal reform that the oil price decline precipitated is, however, set to continue. The restructuring of Abu Dhabi’s public finances has taken into account the federal government’s decision to reduce subsides, as well as the introduction of new fees and taxes by the emirate, and their affects have been felt by nationals and expatriates alike. In the meantime, Abu Dhabi’s ambitious plans to broaden the range of economic activity in the emirate have been granted greater clarity with the publication of the latest iteration of its development strategy in 2016. This chapter contains interviews with Ali Majed Al Mansoori, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development; Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, CEO, Mubadala Investment Company; and Liam Fox, UK Secretary of State for International Trade.

With widespread coverage of potable water, wastewater and electricity networks, Abu Dhabi maintains utility services that are on a par, if not better than, many countries in Europe and North America. At the same time, the emirate’s government has been committed for many years to boosting power and water infrastructure further, with 2017 seeing some of the world’s most advanced projects in these spheres. At the same time, utilities development is also being carried out within the framework of the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, which includes clear environmental and sustainability goals. While many of Abu Dhabi’s power and water projects and facilities are famed for their size, future expansion is based on quality and innovation, giving the emirate a place at the forefront of technological and scientific development in the utilities field. This chapter contains interviews with Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed Al Hamed, Chairman, Regulation and Supervision Bureau; and Mohamed Al Hammadi, CEO, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation.