Jenny Hunt
- 3 min read

Why Invest in Abu Dhabi

1st December 2017, Updated 4th November 2018

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It is the largest of the seven Emirates. With 400 km of coastline, 200 islands, desert and 365 days of sunshine, it offers diverse opportunities for companies looking to expand and set up here. Here, are some of the key commercial advantages to invest in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE has climbed a massive 10 places in the World Bank's annual Ease of Doing Business report and is currently ranked 10th globally. This is due to reforms which have boosted the country's competitiveness.

Business setup in Abu Dhabi - the Advantages

Safest city in the world (Numbeo Crime Rate Index 2018)
Strategic geographical location where East meets West
Population of 2.9 million (SCAD)
Political, social and financial stability
Sovereign State
No corporation Tax.
No personal income Tax.
VAT at 5% - one of the lowest rates globally
State of the art infrastructure
Fully-connected industrial zones
Structured strategic plans to create a sustainable, knowledge-based economy and diversification from dependence upon oil (Vision 2021 & Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030)
100 capital cities in reach within six hours by air
Airport passenger traffic of 24.4 million in 2016 (ADAC)
11 ports handling 25,000 ships/yr, contributing 17bn non-oil GDP to Abu Dhabi and supporting over 56,000 jobs (Abu Dhabi Ports 2017)
Moody's short and long term issuer rating for Abu Dhabi is Aa2/P-1 (May 2018) and S&P's sovereign credit rating on Abu Dhabi is AA/A-1+ (May 2018)
77,406 business licenses issued from the start of 2018 to the end of August 2018 (The National)
Compulsory health insurance or everyone
Favourable legal framework for business: Commercial Companies Law, UAE Trade Mark Law, Protection of Intellectual Property Law, Bankruptcy Law, Foreign Investment Law (upcoming), and Import/Export controls
More than 45 hospitals, inc Cleveland Clinic & Kings College Hospital
Literacy rate at 93.8% in 2016 (SCAD)
250 public schools, 185 private schools, 18 higher education facilities, including Paris-Sorbonne University, INSEAD, Repton School & New York University
Young workforce: 40% aged 25-34yrs
Diverse array of leisure and entertainment attractions, inc theme parks and sports facilities, such as Ferrari World, Yas Marina Racing Circuit and Wadi Adventure
Cultural events, museums and festivals, including Abu Dhabi Art, The Louvre and Al Jahili Fort
Top sectors for FDI in 2015: real estate 27%; manufacturing 19.%%; financial and insurance 15.1%; and, electricity, gas, water supply and waste management 11.6%.