Abu Dhabi economic and resource efficiency strategies

Abu Dhabi is implementing various strategic initiatives to drive economic growth and resource efficiency. The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) has announced a long-term strategy to attract Dh235 billion in investments and create 130,000 specialized jobs by 2045. This plan focuses on four specialized clusters: Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industries (SAVI), Agriculture and Water Abundance (AGWA), Health, Endurance, Longevity and Medicine (HELM), and Finance, Insurance, Digital and Alternative Assets (FIDA). These clusters are projected to contribute more than Dh284 billion to the emirate’s GDP by 2045. Hamid Saiah Al Mazrouei, Undersecretary of ADDED, noted that the emirate is strengthening global competitiveness through quality investments and trusted regulatory frameworks, following a period where non-oil sectors contributed over half of the total economic output.

Complementing these economic goals, the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy (DoE) is addressing industrial resource consumption through its Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator Programme. This initiative targets 100 of the emirate’s highest-consuming industrial facilities to improve energy and water efficiency under the Abu Dhabi Energy and Water Efficiency Strategy 2030. Six priority industries currently account for 96 percent of the emirate’s industrial electricity and water consumption. Early findings indicate that identified efficiency measures offer an average investment payback period of approximately 2.5 years. Recent stakeholder workshops have focused on addressing the technical, commercial, and financing requirements necessary to move efficiency assessments into active deployment.