French businesses eye urban planning in Abu Dhabi

In an exclusive interview with Oxford Business Group (OBG), Kouchner told OBG that: "Several French companies are world leaders in areas such as water distribution and treatment, transport infrastructure - especially railway transport networks - and urban street furniture."

These businesses, he said, now had their eye on urban planning projects undertaken in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in general and Abu Dhabi in particular.

The interview features in The Report: Abu Dhabi 2009, published by OBG and the most comprehensive and accurate review of the emirate's economy available. Rated as the premier source of information for foreign direct investment into the emirate, it will be a vital guide to the many facets of Abu Dhabi, including its macroeconomics, infrastructure, political landscape, banking and sectoral developments.

The Report: Abu Dhabi 2009 is being produced by a team of OBG analysts based in Abu Dhabi who conducted some two hundred interviews with leading political and economic figures. Kouchner is one of the politicians interviewed in The Report: Abu Dhabi 2009, where the full version of his interview will appear.

Kouchner voiced his confidence that the UAE and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries could play a significant role as the international move to seek solutions to the global economic crisis gathers momentum. He added that adopting a proactive role on the international stage would reap dividends for the GCC.

"The Gulf countries have an interest and a key role to play. That was why France suggested that the GCC and the African Union be invited to the April 2009 G-20 London summit."

he said.

France, he said, viewed the UAE as a strong business and trade partner which was why the two countries had a common interest in putting forward solutions to the global financial crisis. Kouchner said France and the UAE could benefit from relaying a joint message that securing long-term investors was the key to bringing about stability.

"Gulf countries will directly benefit from a rapid restoration of confidence in financial markets and in the global economy, which will also create the conditions for less volatile energy prices," he said.

Kouchner firmly believes that the time is ripe for the creation of a renewed international financial architecture. At forums such as the G-20, he said, Europe will champion the will to adapt the world's institutions to new political, economic and financial realities.