$19bn investment in manufacturing
A total of Dh70 billion ($19 billion) was invested in the UAE’s industrial sector in 2005, an increase of 8.4 per cent over the previous year, said a report.

Investments in the country’s manufacturing sector rose to Dh917 billion in 2005, the report said quoting Ministry of Finance and Industry statistics.
The manufacturing sector accounts for 19.2 per cent of the GDP, being the second largest contributor to the national economy. The largest sector in terms of investment within manufacturing is food and beverages with 299 industries. It accounted for an investment of Dh414 billion or 45.8 per cent of the total since 1971.
It is followed by chemical products, which accounted for Dh198 billion or 22 per cent. The food and beverages sector recorded a 200 per cent increase in its investments in 2004 over 2003. In 2005, it attracted investments worth Dh31.2 billion, accounting for about 46 per cent of the total investment and an increase of 14 per cent over 2004, the report said.
The number of industrial units in the Emirates now stands at 3,294 and they employ 245,707 people. Even with the highest number of manufacturing units, the sectors of metal and machinery (858 units) and chemical products (589) failed to attract huge investments. The same was the case with lumber and furniture, which attracted the lowest investment — Dh2.6 billion. However, it registered a growth of 15.3 per cent in employment. Non-metallic mineral products had employment growth of 13.8 per cent and food and beverages 10.9 per cent, the report said.

Italy-GCC trade up
Trade between Italy and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region showed an increase of 24 per cent in 2005. The GCC’s trade with Italy totalled 10.3 billion euros ($13.22 billion) compared with 8.29 billion euros in 2004.
In 2005, GCC exports to that country reached 4.7 billion euros, up from 3.33 billion euros in the previous year and a 42 per cent increase. Imports increased 14 per cent to 5.66 billion euros on a year-on-year basis. The UAE is the second largest export market for Italy after Saudi Arabia in the Middle East.

UAE economy to grow 14pc
The UAE’s nominal GDP is expected to grow nearly 14 per cent to Dh559.3 billion ($152 billion) this year from Dh491 billion last year, according to a report.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) report the growth will make the UAE the second biggest Arab economy after Saudi Arabia.
The 13.91 per cent growth will make the UAE the fastest growing economy in the world, bypassing Asian giants China and India.
‘High oil prices have boosted regional liquidity, fuelling booms in local stock and real estate markets,’ the IMF report said.
The UAE’s GDP represents nearly 10 per cent of that of the Middle East and North Africa’s $1.53 trillion GDP, the IMF data showed. Dubai emirate’s GDP grew 16 per cent last year to Dh127.6 billion.

FDI flow into UAE doubles
Foreign direct investment in the UAE doubled last year to $18 billion and is likely to go higher as the economy opens up and new laws come into force, the Ministry of Economy said.
“The UAE attracted $18 billion FDI in 2005, and besides being an oil economy, the investments side is large,” Minister Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi said on the sidelines of the German-UAE Economic Forum. She was quoted in the Dubai press as saying that the UAE had become the third largest re-export centre in the world, reaching out to about a billion consumers.
The UAE is aspiring for investments and technology from sophisticated markets, the minister said.
“The UAE has 50 per cent of its GDP from the services sector and we require knowledge-enhancing investments such as transfer of technology,” she said, adding that a lot of German technology has been introduced here. German Minister of Economy Michael Glos said though exports to the UAE had been rising, there was potential for more.
Glos met General Shaikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and discussed ways to boost bilateral ties.

Bahrain on right track
Bahrain’s economy is moving in the right direction, an international investment expert said. The country attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth $1 billion in 2004, said United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) investment trends section chief Masataka Fujita.
“Though Bahrain’s FDI figures for 2005 are not available, the kingdom is moving in the right direction and has great potential in attracting more FDI,” he said. “The laws here are adequate to protect foreign investment.”
Fujita was in Bahrain to attend a workshop on “Understanding and Analysing FDI Statistics and FDI from West Asia”.
The event was organised by the Economic Development Board (EDB) in co-ordination with UNCTAD. Fujita said outward FDI from developing countries and related policy issues needed particular attention by policy-makers.

$1 trillion projects in Gulf
Projects planned or already under development in the Gulf have crossed the $1 trillion mark, according to a study.
Research from Middle East Economic Digest (Meed) Projects shows that the total value of projects rose by more than $250 billion in the first three months of 2006 alone, and exceeded $1 trillion in the first week of April.
The projects market in the region is now the biggest globally on a per capita basis, while the Middle East has the second largest share of project finance in the world.
Ayman Razek, general manager of Meed Projects, said: “Project values are at an all-time high through a combination of a GCC-wide construction boom, infrastructure development, energy initiatives and public/private sector initiatives as well as associated rises in building material costs.”
The UAE remains the Gulf’s largest construction market. At the start of April, there were almost $300 billion worth of active projects in the federation, most in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, though major schemes are being unveiled in the other five emirates.