Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, greets children during the inauguration of Khalifa Port in Samha.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, greets children during the inauguration of Khalifa Port in Samha.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, greets children during the inauguration of Khalifa Port in Samha.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, greets children during the inauguration of Khalifa Port in Samha.

Project Abu Dhabi: Piecing together the emirate's future


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ABU DHABI // Abu Dhabi took a giant step towards its industrial future yesterday with the official launch of the Dh26.5 billion Khalifa Port.

At 12 noon on the 12th day of the 12 month of 2012, the President, Sheikh Khalifa, declared the region's largest automated port open for business.

The port's target of 15 million container units a year in the next 20 years will place it alongside Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore as one of the biggest in the world.

The deepwater terminal five kilometres offshore will be able to handle the next generation of mega container ships, and act as a gateway to its onshore partner, Kizad, the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi.

Together, the two developments are expected to contribute 15 per cent of the capital's non-oil GDP in the next two decades and reduce reliance on revenue from oil and gas.

They will also naturally boost the surrounding area and community, said Craig Plumb, regional head of research at Jones Lang LaSalle, the global property services company.

"This will create a focal point for further development, whether it's residential or commercial, to support the port," he said. The projects are also integral pieces in a massive jigsaw of business and infrastructure developments as Abu Dhabi aims to realise its Economic Vision 2030.

Use the map below and click on an icon to see what is being developed in the emirate

View Project: Abu Dhabi in a larger map

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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