Asian Absolute Newsletter, Summer 2010

Dubai may get all the headlines - but just 15 minutes down the coast by air, you'll find an even wealthier economy, with just as much to offer investors and exporters.

The city of Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates – a constitutional federation composed of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah, and formally established on 2 December 1971. The largest of all seven emirates, Abu Dhabi comprises 67,340 square kilometres and more than 400 kilometres of coastline.

The richest city in the world according to Fortune in 2007, and one of the world's largest producers of oil, Abu Dhabi holds 9% of the world's proven oil reserves and almost 5% of the world's natural gas. It is also home to the headquarters of many multinational corporations, and important financial institutions such as the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates.

In recent years, Abu Dhabi has intensively started to diversify its economy through investments in non-oil sectors, especially in financial services, real estate retail and tourism, and through strengthening the public-private partnership, encouraging direct foreign investment, and entering into joint ventures. As a result of this strategy, the construction of the industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD), and industrial free zone, has been completed. ICAD II is in the works, as well as a new transport infrastructure including a new port, an expansion of the airport, and a rail link with Dubai.

Abu Dhabi is composed of several ethnicities from different parts of the world, and is the roof to many cultures, traditions and heritage. For years, expatriates have had the freedom to practise their own language and religion. Friday is the Islamic holy day, and the weekend consists of Friday and Saturday for all government institutions.

"Abu Dhabi" means literally "father of gazelle". Some say it was so named because there were a large number of gazelles in the area, while others claim that it is named for a man who used to chase them. According to books written by Arab poets and historians, the name was first used more than 300 years ago. In older times, Abu Dhabi was called Milh (Arabic for "salt") probably because of the high volume of salty water in the area.

Finally, a few facts about languages in Abu Dhabi:

• Arabic is the state's official language. It is also the official business language but English is commonly used – although the further away you are from the city centre, the less English is spoken and understood.
• English, Hindi, Urdu and Persian are widely used in the city, due to the presence of expatriate communities.
• Most formal, written and oral communication is conducted in Arabic.
• Official documents ranging from contracts to marriage certificates frequently require translation into Arabic.

For more information on Arabic translations, Arabic typesetting, and Arabic expertise, please visit our dedicated pages or contact us.

For further information about Asian Absolute or any of the articles in our newsletter, please contact news@asianabsolute.co.uk

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