Tawazun, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned defence company, has this month announced a flurry of deals to supply components to big western businesses, in what analysts see as part of a quid pro quo for contracts multinationals hope to win in the Gulf. Continue reading »
Gulf: gauging recovery in the absence of economic data
Sentiment is everything in the Gulf. Without reliable or regular economic data, it is a struggle to know which direction the wind is blowing.
The underdevelopment and lack of disclosure of public statistics explains in part why so few saw Dubai’s 2009 debt crisis coming. And now, as some Gulf economies appear to be pulling out of the economic crisis, there are still few concrete numbers to prove it. Many are relying on improved sentiment…on anecdotes here and there. Continue reading »
While the western financial crisis is causing some US and European businesses to trim their overseas operations, the Abu Dhabi development is one of about 85 so-called cluster projects battling across the Gulf to attract companies from sectors such as the media, technology and finance.
Abu Dhabi sets new debt rules [updated]
Oil-rich Abu Dhabi has quietly issued a new public debt policy to its state-linked companies as it tries to rein in boom-time borrowing and get an idea of what debt it is responsible for.
The most important articles of the policy are here, from documents seen and translated into English by beyondbrics. Continue reading »
Mubadala: getting back in the groove
After a bit of a lull, Mubadala is back. The announcement of a $2bn investment in Brazil signals a return to big-spending, strategic overseas moves that characterised the Abu Dhabi state investment company until the emirate ran into economic trouble in the last couple of years.
The $46bn diversified group mandated to generate financial and social returns is buying a 5.6 per cent stake in Eike Batista’s Brazilian EBX Group after a bit of a pause in its own operations and in the growth of the Abu Dhabi economy. Continue reading »
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