Second Abu Dhabi Competitiveness Report 2016 launched

Due to the dramatic drop in oil prices in 2014, the decline in the emirate’s growth expectations is inevitable, but such decline is expected to be mitigated by the contribution of non-petroleum commodities sectors which will reduce the impact of the decline in oil prices, according to the 2nd Abu Dhabi Competitiveness Report 2016, issued by the Department of Economic Development – Abu Dhabi (ADDED).

The Abu Dhabi Competitiveness Report 2016 provides benchmarking against countries and regions based on three criteria: the inputs of competitiveness, the outputs acquired from such inputs and long term outcomes in the areas of economy and the quality of life.

The Report also highlights the twelve elements of competiveness based on the three key criteria, as detailed quantitative analysis were performed basing on the data of the Statistics Center _ Abu Dhabi and the in-depth information acquired from interviewing the stakeholders in order to reflect the image of the emirate’s competiveness status. The Report further sheds light on the strengths and challenges across the twelve elements.

Supported by extensive data from stakeholders, the Abu Dhabi Competitiveness Report 2016 has identified the competiveness’s areas of improvement in the emirate as the COAD has, after conducting diagnostic analysis of competiveness, performed benchmarking against the solutions and initiatives applied by other countries to address similar areas of improvement. The analysis was supported by Interviews with the main stakeholders in Abu Dhabi.

The Report has demonstrated that the decline in oil prices and the political unrest have negatively affected the interests of the countries in the MENA region, but the United Arab Emirates is the country least exposed to such effects as Standards and Poors has recently stated that Abu Dhabi’s credit rating is attributed to its firm financial position and external standpoint which enables the country to adopt a flexible financial policy.

The Report reveals that due to the dramatic drop in oil prices in 2014, the decline in the emirate’s growth expectations is inevitable, but such decline is expected to be mitigated by the contribution of non-petroleum commodities sectors which will reduce the impact of the decline in oil prices.

The Report stresses that the reforms proposed by Abu Dhabi government are becoming more important as the current approach towards a more diversified economy continues to reduce oil dependency. Therefore, further development of knowledge-based, highly productive sectors is of paramount importance to achieve high GDP per capita and increase the average of monthly salaries, thereby achieving the optimal goal that is improving the quality of life in the emirate.

The Report presents several of the emirate’s outputs in the areas of non-petroleum economic sectors, education, exports, foreign direct investment, infrastructure, capital, SME, IT, telecommunications and the commercial activity of establishments.

The Abu Dhabi Competiveness Report 2016 further highlights innovation’s importance to foster Abu Dhabi’s competiveness as the emirate can benefit from a more innovative landscape balancing supply and demand.

The ADDED has issued the second version of Abu Dhabi Competitiveness Report 2016, which aims to measure the competitiveness of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi using a number of international standards and benchmarking criteria. It highlights the challenges and key success factors from the perspective of the Emirate's competitiveness and provides recommendations to address these challenges and improve the current competitiveness position, by adopting government initiatives and achieving full potential productivity.

In his foreword of the Report, Ali Majed Al Mansouri, ADDED Chairman, stressed that the government of Abu Dhabi, under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President, and with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and Chairman of the Executive Council, always seeks to adopt the best practices and enablers that would bolster the emirate’s competitive position regionally and globally.

"The government of Abu Dhabi, with close follow-up from H.H. Sheikh Hazaa bin Zayed, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Executive Council, always seeks to enhance the competitiveness of the companies in the semi-governmental and private sectors by measuring the efficiency of production growth and innovation, which are key pillars adopted by many countries who want to lead the way in terms of global competitiveness as they empower local economies to achieve sustainable economic growth and long term prosperity,'' he stated.

ADDED Chairman noted that achieving optimal competitiveness and improving productivity are ones of the main objectives and priorities of the economic policy of Abu Dhabi, which aims to develop a sustainable economy as per the pillars of Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 that aims to unleash the potentials of the emirate’s economy and empower everybody to effectively contribute to the sustainable development.

"ADDED is the key driver responsible for implementing the economic agenda of the emirate by leading the economic development aspect of Abu Dhabi plan. ADDED follows a straightforward policy that basically aims to enhance competitiveness and economic diversification and depends on continuous expansion to develop non-oil sectors to become the driver of Abu Dhabi economy by empowering the private sector, especially national firms, and developing its technical and innovative capabilities," said Al Mansouri.

He added that the second issue of Abu Dhabi Competitiveness Report, which is prepared by ADDED’s Competitiveness Office of Abu Dhabi (COAD), includes all drivers of competitiveness as it cooperates with all key stakeholders. Since the first issue of the report, Abu Dhabi continued to build on and improve its prosperity and economic diversity.

"The active investments in infrastructure and, continued focus on education and firm commitment to innovation have provide ideal environment for growth thanks to the wise financial decision and the investment in non-petroleum resources which enabled the Abu Dhabi to overcome the severe drop in oil prices as the emirate has achieved good growth rates across all sectors," added Al Mansouri.

Al Mansouri pointed that ADDED looks forward to enhance the emirate’s competiveness during the coming years in line with Abu Dhabi government’s efforts to build a knowledge-based economy.

"In line with Abu Dhabi Plan 2016-2020, the emirate’s next stage of economic development will focus on supporting the national agenda to create highly-qualified workforce to assume value-added positions in the private sector, and promote the growth of local supply chains in order to foster economic diversity and SME growth, enhance productivity, ensure that the innovation model is balanced and includes supply-based innovation, support end user and demand-based innovation, ensure the coordination between government departments in terms of priorities and raise awareness about competitiveness in local and international forums," added Al Mansouri.

"We would like to reiterate ADDED’s commitment to achieving the goal announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and Chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Executive Counsel, that is to make sure that the UAE is fully prepared to survive in the post-oil era through continued investment in the UAE’s human resources being the pillar of sustainable economic development," Al Mansouri concluded his foreword.

"ADDED’s launching of the second version of the Report is part of the Department’s initiatives to foster the emirate’s competitiveness," stated Khalifa bin Salem Al Mansouri, ADDED’s Acting Undersecretary, in his foreword of the version of Abu Dhabi Competitiveness Report 2016.

He commended the effective support and efforts of the concerned governmental entities for their contribution along with ADDED’s COAD to releasing the second version of Abu Dhabi Competitiveness Report through unifying the objectives, coordinating the initiatives and championing the efforts to enhance the emirate’s competitiveness.

"The second version of Abu Dhabi Competiveness Report has focused on the competiveness of all aspect of the emirate’s economy, on both micro and macro levels, as well as setting intervention priorities and designing and implementing the polices and initiatives needed to address such priorities and control key drivers," he added.

He stressed ADDED’s commitment to regularly launch Abu Dhabi Competiveness Report to enable the Department and its strategic partners to build the three units forming the basic elements of the emirate’s competiveness, namely the inputs, outputs and outcomes, which will create social and economic changes to measure the emirate’s regional competitiveness through the provision of logical basis for a more accurate data analysis, thereby enabling the government, businesses and individuals to identify investment opportunities in the emirate and propose specified solutions for continued improvement and development.

"The second version of the Report has set a framework for competitiveness evaluation in the emirate of Abu Dhabi and its main districts through several standards, namely the quality of life, economic growth, productivity, employment, exports, foreign direct investment, innovation, workforce, infrastructure, capital, establishment and the sectors of economy," he explained.