Abu Dhabi plans to launch an export development agency within the next six months to spur economic growth as this year's performance is set to fall short of goals.
The independent entity would focus on boosting non-oil trade among exporters as well as helping smaller companies to begin selling abroad. It would provide financial grants to companies in addition to access to trade information and support in attending trade fairs.
The agency will form part of the capital's ambitions to boost non-oil trade as part of a drive to nurture growth in the private sector and protect the emirate's economy from future volatility in the price of oil, by far its biggest export.
Abu Dhabi wants to raise the contribution of non-oil exports to the emirate's GDP to 11 per cent by 2030 from 1.5 per cent now, under its Economic Vision 2030 plan.
A senior official at the Department of Economic Development said Abu Dhabi would not meet the plan's annual growth target of 7 per cent this year.
"We have to make downwards adjustments in terms of the growth," said Mohammed Omar Abdulla, the undersecretary of DED.
"The average growth will be 6 to 7 per cent according to the vision, this will not be the case in 2010."
Dr Giyas Gokkent, the chief economist and head of research of the asset management group at National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), said: "It's understandable that some of the goalposts may shift slightly."
Last week, the IMF downgraded its forecast for the UAE of GDP growth to between zero and 1 per cent as it predicted that Dubai's property sector and the restructuring of Dubai World would continue to weigh on the economy. It said the economy contracted by 0.7 per cent last year.
NBAD sees growth of between 4 and 5 per cent in Abu Dhabi this year.
"The non-oil sector is the key to pushing forward with the diversification drive as it will lead to a greater population growth which will continue to support economic growth," said Dr Gokkent.
The emirate hopes that an export development agency will help reach its long-term growth goals by expanding exports.
"Hopefully, in the next sixth months we will have launched it," said Adeeb Alafifi, the director of foreign trade and export support at DED.
An export development agency would open the way to creating an export credit agency or export-import bank in the emirate, he added.
Abu Dhabi officials are still in discussions with export-import banks in the US and Asia about how to establish a similar entity in the emirate to finance and insure trade deals.
@Email:tarnold@thenational.ae
India squad
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, K.L. Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Episode list:
Ep1: A recovery like no other- the unevenness of the economic recovery
Ep2: PCR and jobs - the future of work - new trends and challenges
Ep3: The recovery and global trade disruptions - globalisation post-pandemic
Ep4: Inflation- services and goods - debt risks
Ep5: Travel and tourism
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The biog
Name: Abeer Al Shahi
Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan
Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.
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Favourite quote: “My people and I will not settle for anything less than first place” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.
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A major shake-up of government-run schools was rolled out across the country in 2017. Known as the Emirati School Model, it placed more emphasis on maths and science while also adding practical skills to the curriculum.
It was accompanied by the promise of a Dh5 billion investment, over six years, to pay for state-of-the-art infrastructure improvements.
Aspects of the school model will be extended to international private schools, the education minister has previously suggested.
Recent developments have also included the introduction of moral education - which public and private schools both must teach - along with reform of the exams system and tougher teacher licensing requirements.
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