Karim Deen

From Interest to Entry: The Mechanics of Investing in Abu Dhabi

The core message of the session is that Abu Dhabi is positioning itself as a place where investors can move from interest to on-the-ground commitment with confidence, clarity, and practical support. Host Georgia Tolley framed the investor-stage programme around a single question: “How do I participate?” She explained that the event would move from the investment case for Abu Dhabi into sector opportunities and then into capital-allocation decisions, with each conversation intended to give investors something concrete: a pathway, pipeline, partner, or number. His Excellency Hamed Saeed AlMajali then opened by asking where investors can commit capital confidently while retaining the ability to scale globally, setting up Abu Dhabi’s answer around predictability, reach, and clarity of direction. AlMajali argued that long-term investment requires rules that hold, a clear economic strategy, efficient services, trusted regulation, and a government that sees itself as an enabler of investment. He described Abu Dhabi’s geographic and financial reach as a base for serving developed and emerging markets between east and west and between north and south. He also highlighted four economic clusters launched since 2023: smart and autonomous vehicle industries; agri-food growth and water abundance; health, endurance, longevity, and medicine; and fintech, insurance, digital, and alternative assets. Together, he said, these clusters are projected to contribute almost 284 billion to Abu Dhabi’s GDP, create more than 130,000 jobs, and attract over $217 billion in investment by 2045. The panel then shifted from the investment case to the mechanics of entry. Saeed Al Awar of Rothschild described Abu Dhabi’s evolution over the last ten to fifteen years from a source of capital for asset managers into a place where businesses are encouraged to establish substance. He pointed to ADGM as a key part of that shift, alongside incentives that encourage investment professionals and business operations to be based on the ground. He also stressed that Abu Dhabi’s livability—venues, education, schooling, entertainment, airline connectivity, and urban development—has become part of its investment proposition, because businesses need people who want to live where they work. Snow Li of SABA Investment provided the most personal case study of moving from interest to entry. She traced her relationship with Abu Dhabi back to a 2019 delegation visit from Shanghai and a first visit to Louvre Abu Dhabi, where the cultural respect shown to different histories and nationalities made a strong impression. After returning during Chinese New Year in 2020 and staying through COVID, she began spending 60% of her time in Abu Dhabi, became a founding patron and individual donor of Louvre Abu Dhabi, and expanded her business presence. She cited culture, infrastructure, friendly people, Abu Dhabi’s role as a hub for MENA and Africa, ADEO incentives, and the ease of establishing in ADGM as reasons her family and business became comfortable investing and operating from the city.