Abu Dhabi, the holder of 7 per cent of the world's oil reserves, plans to invest $500 billion (Dh1.83 trillion) in industry, tourism and culture to increase non-oil revenue to 64 per cent of the economy from 41 per cent from 2005 to 2007. In Dubai, property speculation drove up prices and spurred development until the global credit crunch in 2008. The Abu Dhabi government hasn't announced any changes to the development blueprint, called Vision 2030, since it was first published in 2008. Workforce cut.
The emirate's Urban Planning Council wouldn't say whether the plan was on track when contacted by Bloomberg. Aldar Properties, Abu Dhabi's biggest developer, plans to cut its workforce as it focuses on existing projects and properties that generate steady income, the company said last week. The government-owned Tourism Development and Investment Co (TDIC) said last month that it would delay the Zayed National Museum's completion as well as the Louvre and Guggenheim branches due to the ‘magnitude of work.'
TDIC, which also develops hotels, cut its 2011 budget by 28 per cent to $3.6 billion, according the prospectus for a $3 billion bond sale in July. The sale was postponed. Masdar, the $22 billion state-owned renewable energy company, shelved plans for a 1.1 million square foot headquarters building that would produce more energy than it uses, it said in September. A year earlier, the company scaled back the zero-carbon ambition for its purpose-built city and delayed the city's first phase by two years to 2015.
