Abu Dhabi and Italian business leaders celebrate relationships

Notes and media contacts

About Abu Dhabi:
Spread over 87,340 square kilometres, Abu Dhabi - Capital of the UAE - is the largest of the seven emirates which make up the United Arab Emirates and accounts for more than 85% of the country's total landmass. The UAE is one of the six members of the Arabian Gulf Co-operation Council.

Abu Dhabi city, built on the largest of almost 200 natural offshore islands in the emirate, is the capital both of the emirate and of the UAE. It is the federal seat of government and home to most ministries and institutions, embassies, state broadcasting facilities and oil companies. Abu Dhabi's population is currently around 1.6 million and is expected to grow by 6.8 per cent per annum over the next decade to a projected 3.4 million by 2015.

Abu Dhabi has an estimated 9.2% of the world's proven oil reserves and 4% of its total proven natural gas reserves. The emirate has a per capita income of approximately US $30,000. Realising the challenges posed by the country's heavy economic reliance on finite carbon resources, the emirate's leadership is actively pursuing economic diversification.

About Mubadala:

Mubadala is a strategic investment and development vehicle established and wholly owned by the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Its mission is to invest in commercially-viable, strategic, industrial and commercial partnerships.

The company manages a diversified portfolio of local, regional, and international investments. International investments include the Dutch fleet management giant LeasePlan Corporation (25% stake), and a stake in nine oil exploration blocks in Libya. Stakes are also held in the Swiss aircraft and engine services provider SR Technics (40%), the Italian luxury car manufacturer Ferrari (5%), and Piaggio Aero Industries (35%).

In the UAE and wider Gulf region, Mubadala has invested in, and developed, a number of leading projects including the first GCC cross-border natural gas project, Dolphin Energy (51% majority stake), Aldar Properties, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), Tabreed, Abu Dhabi Ship Building, Imperial College London Diabetes Centre in Abu Dhabi, Injazat Data Systems and the Mukhaizna Oil Field developments in Oman.

Mubadala signed a joint development agreement with Dubai Aluminium Company (DUBAL) to develop, construct, own and operate a USD 8-billion world class green-field aluminium smelter complex with 1.4-million tons capacity a year at the Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone in Abu Dhabi. Mubadala and DUBAL are also developing a US $5 billion smelter with a 700,000 tones capacity in Algeria.

Mubadala is also leading the development of the UAE University's new campus in Al Ain City through a public-private partnership initiative.

About The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA):

The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority was created in 2004 by Executive Decree of the Abu Dhabi Government to assist the economic diversification of the United Arab Emirates through supporting and expanding the emirate's tourism industry.

Key ABU DHABI TOURISM AUTHORITY responsibilities include the development of an overall tourism strategy for Abu Dhabi - directing the implementation of marketing activities required to achieve strategic objectives - creating the physical infrastructure required by tourism operators - regulation, licensing and classification of the tourism sector. This provides for consistently high standards in the sector and for Abu Dhabi's tourism plans to develop effectively and harmoniously.

Abu Dhabi is planning to add 17,000 hotel rooms in a bid to increase tourism to the emirate from 1,345,878 in 2006, to more than three million by 2015.

About ALDAR Properties:

ALDAR Properties PJSC is the premier real estate development, management and Investment Company in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. ALDAR's vision is to establish Abu Dhabi as the United Arab Emirate's most progressive and inventive real estate market by creating unique and prestigious developments. ALDAR's portfolio will initially extend across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and later throughout the United Arab Emirates and the region.

Since launching in 2005, ALDAR has already announced projects worth more than $US 60 billion dollars. ALDAR's developments are characterised by comprehensive planning, innovation and a commitment to excellence in urban design, town planning and sustainable development. One of ALDAR's prime responsibilities is ensuring a balance between the evolving needs of a modern city while conserving the environment. ALDAR's projects prioritise the immediate and future physical, social and economic requirements of the United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi.

ALDAR is well positioned against competitors because it is the only real estate development company in Abu Dhabi with the financial resources, management calibre and government support to undertake large-scale, market-driven projects, appropriate to the Emirate's booming property industry.

About Etihad Airways:

Etihad Airways is based in the UAE's capital of Abu Dhabi and currently flies to 45 destinations in the Middle East, Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.