Construction in Abu Dhabi set to weather crisis

[Naveed Yaseen]

ABU DHABI: It is not exactly business as usual, but the construction sector in the deep-pocketed Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi appears set to weather the economic crisis, pressing ahead with major developments.

An annual four-day real estate show, Cityscape Abu Dhabi, which had been scheduled to end on Wednesday, was extended by a day on government instructions “to facilitate networking between investors, developers and decision makers from the real estate industry,” the show’s website said.

Nearly 300 exhibitors attended the event, staged as the once-booming real estate sector in the United Arab Emirates, mainly in Dubai, goes through severe price corrections, with many projects put on hold or cancelled altogether.

But the grandiose projects in Abu Dhabi are backed by the wealthy emirate, which controls the bulk of the UAE’s oil reserves ranked the world’s fifth and which also owns one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.

“No delays. This is Abu Dhabi,” said one American official with a US real estate company working on a major development in the UAE capital.

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