Broad business expertise welcome

Abu Dhabi has told Chinese officials and investors that their range of expertise from the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises to large infrastructure projects is keenly sought after.

Abu Dhabi has told Chinese officials and investors that their range of expertise from the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to large infrastructure projects is keenly sought after in the capital. The key to economic ties between the two countries was the way the economies of the UAE and China were gearing towards similar "capital-intensive, knowledge-based" industries, said Ahmad Abu Ghaida, the director of economic planning at the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development.

Mr Ghaida told a panel discussion at the Abu Dhabi and China Economic Forum that SMEs were creating "a competitive environment" in areas such as human resources, financial capital, energy, petrochemicals and aerospace. Opportunities for trade and investment were particularly significant because of the likely scale of the growth in the emirate's GDP as outlined in the 2030 plan, according to several panelists.

Jeremy Parrish, the chief executive for Abu Dhabi and Al Ain at Standard Chartered, said the 2030 plan was impressive because of its "resilience", as it had remained fundamentally unchanged in the global economic crisis. "There are two key features: economic diversification and sustainability," Mr Parrish said. "In sustainability, you have a massive opportunity between Abu Dhabi and China. "It ranges from the Masdar Institute to sustainability around manufacturing and infrastructure projects. It's a very inclusive plan and for the private sector that means enormous opportunity."

Nazem Fawwaz al Kudsi, the chief executive of Invest AD, an investment company owned by the Abu Dhabi Government, said the growth in the capital's economy and its spending on infrastructure projects contrasts with western countries' preoccupation with austerity measures after the global economic downturn. "Governments in the region are investing heavily, so the outlook of Abu Dhabi as a portal of the region is very positive," Mr al Kudsi said. "Abu Dhabi is the easiest entry to the region in the infrastructure that China is very much engaged in.

"We're a gateway to the region with a proper telecoms infrastructure, a proper financial infrastructure and a proper logistics infrastructure, so what Abu Dhabi has been doing has been to enable entities like those in China to conduct business." Mr Parrish said there was "a huge increase" in interest from the Far East in investing in financial instruments. "China has a huge capital surplus to invest and there is plenty of opportunity in the Gulf to invest these. The concept of the East supporting the Middle East is extremely important," he said.

Mr al Kudsi said the region deserved to attract more investment still, with the "tremendous" opportunities for private equity investments as Abu Dhabi companies were growing "very rapidly". "As a percentage of your portfolio, it's very underrated as a region," he said. "[It has] the ability to offer attractive products for institutional Chinese investors." [e-mail]