Quality Speaks For Itself

Business carries on…..in Abu Dhabi

Posted in General information by Ash on October 28th, 2008 10:53pm

Today I attended the Abu Dhabi Investment Forum that was held at the Dorchester Hotel in London. Despite all of the current uncertainty in the financial markets the event was attended by over 300 delegates and the room was bursting at the seams!

There were a number of key note speakers and panel debating sessions which reinforced our view that Abu Dhabi has all the ingredients to be a top rate investment opportunity. Some of the key messages to emerge from the day were.

- There is a vision for what Abu Dhabi will become, and short term market sentiment will not detract from this vision. Indeed it is seen as an opportunity to acquire both capital assets and expert human resource which were previously either not easily available or expensive.

- Oil and Gas wealth underpins all future development, but diversification of the economy has already begun. There will be three main drivers, existing oil and gas, new industries and commerce such as aerospace and  finally tourism where Abu Dhabi seeks to project itself as the cultural capital of the region

- The property market is a by product of all of the above, it is not a driver of the economy but something that must necessarily follow growth in other areas. The housing shortage is real and accute and is likely to stay this way for the medium term.

We continue to make great strides in with due diligence process on Abu Dhabi and as noted above the event today reinforced our view that Abu Dhabi property should form part of an investors international property portfolio.