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This chapter features an overview of Abu Dhabi’s straightforward tax regime and a viewpoint from Mahmud Merali, Managing Partner, MERALI’S.

The emirate is striving to protect the environment while making the most of its natural resources. Abu Dhabi faces a confluence of environmental pressures that it is looking to address. This presents opportunities for investment and foreign partnerships in resource monitoring and management systems, green technology solutions, and best practice outreach and awareness campaigns. The EAD, established in 1996, is the main government entity tasked with regulating, promoting and setting policy for environmental protection and resource conservation. A number of government-linked organisations have launched environmental initiatives, including the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, the Abu Dhabi Water and Electric Company, and the Centre of Waste Management. This chapter contains an interview with Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary-General, Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD).

Abu Dhabi is home to a dynamic media market with a broad range of players catering to a variety of interests and tastes. Efforts to become a leading producer and exporter of creative content and media services are driving growth, as the sector’s development has been identified as a key part of fulfilling broader ambitions of diversification under the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030. The emirate is aiming to become a regional centre for generating Arabic content across a variety of segments, particularly gaming, animation and e-learning. Advertising is also an important market, as the UAE is the MENA region’s largest advertising market, with total spending estimated at $1.2bn in the first nine months of 2013.

Ranked as the Middle East and North Africa’s most high-tech city alongside Dubai and Doha, according to a study by Swedish telecoms equipment company Ericsson, Abu Dhabi’s sophisticated ICT infrastructure and strong fibre network reaffirm its position as a regional business centre and play a critical role in the emirate’s diversification efforts and transition towards a knowledge-based economy. Expenditure in the UAE, the GCC’s second-largest ICT market, is projected to increase almost threefold between 2013 and 2015 to $40bn. As the local economy expands and diversifies, attracting a greater mix of corporates, there is growing demand for a wider range of IT products and services to supplement the government sector, which remains a reliable source of business. This chapter contains an interview with Rashed Al Mansoori, Director-General, Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre (ADSIC).

Efforts to enhance food security and reduce the impact of imported inflation have made the sector a greater priority. Further to this, the government is committed to developing the sector on the grounds that agriculture has played an important role in the emirate’s history, and is considered to be a pillar of its heritage and culture. As in much of the rest of the Gulf, fresh water is in short supply in the emirate, and agricultural planning is therefore shifting in favour of more water-efficient crops, such as replacing grain production with potatoes. This chapter contains an interview with Rashed Mohamed Al Shariqi, Director-General, Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA).

Fuelled by higher incomes; the growing, ageing population; a rise in the prevalence of lifestyle diseases; and the introduction of mandatory health insurance, Abu Dhabi’s health sector has expanded rapidly in the past five years. Given demographic trends, in 2011 the Health Authority - Abu Dhabi (HAAD) estimated that by 2021, Abu Dhabi will need up to an additional 1900 doctors, 5300 nurses and 1700 hospital beds. The government is building new facilities, hiring doctors and training nationals to keep pace with demand. Meanwhile, private providers are taking up the numerous opportunities presented by this growing market. The private sector will likely expand by investing in high-volume needs such as reproductive health or communicable diseases, while areas such as acute and tertiary care are expected to remain the purview of government hospitals. This chapter contains interviews with Mohammed Sultan Al Hameli, Chairman, Health Authority - Abu Dhabi; and Saif Al Qubaisi, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA).