US firms keen to take part in UAE’s projects

Haseeb Haider (haseeb@khaleejtimes.com) / 10 March 2014

“The United States and the UAE share a commitment to preserve security and stability throughout the Gulf,” Pritzker told over 450 top businessmen from US and the UAE at a lunch hosted by AmCham Abu Dhabi. 


The US Secretary for Commerce Penny Pritzker has said her nation’s commitment to the security of the Gulf will not change, even as it increasingly becomes energy independent.
“The United States and the UAE share a commitment to preserve security and stability throughout the Gulf,” Pritzker told over 450 top businessmen from US and the UAE at a lunch hosted by AmCham Abu Dhabi.
She said America was interested in making sure that oil markets throughout the world remain stable and well supplied.
Penny Pritzker, who is leading a mission comprising 21 companies from infrastructure and energy sector, is on a visit to the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arab to explore business opportunities in the region.
In her remarks at the event, she spoke on the business opportunities arising in the Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the areas of infrastructure, transport and renewable energy.
The secretary said US firms are interested in taking part in the exciting projects being conceived here. She acknowledged the UAE leadership’s role for its policies, which has built the US and UAE bilateral relation on the growth trajectory.
Pritzker said that the Obama administration has prioritised this region and has put a very high value on American relations with the Gulf.
She said that Dubai’s Expo2020 will open new opportunities in the area of infrastructure and facilities development as infrastructure projects valuing $36 billion would be up to grab along with $7 billion worth schemes to boost facilities over the next seven years. She said the US firms are interested to participate in the development of those projects.
“In next three years, Abu Dhabi will spend $90 billion on its projects relating to infrastructure and transportation. The Ehtihad Rail expansion project, Department of  Transport’s Urban Rail project and development of Saadiyat Island, are the projects in which the US firms could participate in,” she said. Also in 15 years, she said Abu Dhabi’s population would double, which would create enormous investment opportunities.
The secretary said that the UAE is the 19^th biggest source of FDI into the US, as Mubadala has invested $6 billion in the semi-conductor facility, Global Foundries’, and has announced plans to invest another $10 billion to expand it. The UAE’s FDI into the US was $21 billion last year, she said.
“We can build on the advantage of the UAE for American to do the business throughout the Mena and South Asia,” she added.

Khalfan Saeed Al Kaabi, First Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI), in his welcoming remarks stressed the importance of bolstering economic and investment cooperation in the Emirati-American corporate sector.