Destination Abu Dhabi digital portal attracts potential investors

The social media platform lays out a comprehensive roadmap for accessing the business and investment ecosystem as well as a portal to the emirate’s working and living environment.

Abu Dhabi: More than 300,000 people are benefitting from an Abu Dhabi know-how-platform, which aims to make living and investing in the capital a smoother experience.

Destination Abu Dhabi, which was launched in March this year, is a one-stop informative platform that provides a roadmap for potential investors, business owners, entrepreneurs, and future residents to gain knowledge and access key industries in the capital. By commissioning thought leaders, industry experts, innovators, and social media icons, the online platform provides engaging information about the stock market, digital and artificial intelligence, real estate, manufacturing, healthcare, education, tourism and hospitality sectors.

“Abu Dhabi has a lot to offer within the real estate, manufacturing, business, digital, and investment sectors, coupled with a strong and highly appealing livability aspect,” said Namrata Raina, project lead of Destination Abu Dhabi. “Named the safest city in the world for the sixth year in a row, Abu Dhabi is one of the most advanced cities in the world and has demonstrated its resilience by recovering quickly from the Covid-19 pandemic. Through Destination Abu Dhabi, we aim to demonstrate this by providing the audience with a comprehensive understanding of the city’s ecosystem to promote it as the capital of business, investment, innovation, and livability.”

In less than a year, the platform has been able to attract nearly half a million (500K+) users from the UAE, GCC, and MENA region across its 7 social media platforms, including Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. The audience was primarily from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, and Egypt, making up about 70% of the platform’s followers.

“Since the launch, we have received numerous inquiries for accessing the emirate’s various plans, programs, and initiatives within the business and investment space,” Raina added. “Destination Abu Dhabi is connected to a significant number of partners who can help facilitate people’s access to their areas of interest. This has encouraged more people to actively benefit from and use the platform and enjoy the convenience it offers.”

The platform has also received a tremendous amount of interest from the MENA market and plans to expand its reach globally.

How it works

To make the information clearer and easier to deliver, the portal offers a series of videos covering various topics. These include Abu Dhabi’s dynamic markets and the fundamentals of doing business and investing in the city as well as the lifestyle that can be experienced.

“A segment titled ‘Business Talk’ featured the former MBC morning-show host Lojain Omran as she explores the emirate’s real estate market and ventures through an interview with real estate experts who lay out the significant factors of investing in the field,” explained Raina.

Another segment titled ‘Experience Abu Dhabi’ highlights adventure and entertainment activities that are unique to the emirate in order to provide a full picture of what residents and visitors can engage in when looking for a new experience,” she added.

Other segments include ‘Market Insight,’ which brings in an industry expert to discuss the landscape of Abu Dhabi and how businesses, startups and investors are benefiting from everything that Abu Dhabi has to offer in terms of support. For example, the show featured STRATA, a composite aero-structures manufacturing facility based in Al Ain, to shed the light on how the company is enabling Abu Dhabi to become a hub for the aerospace industry.

Furthermore, the digital platform’s benefits extend beyond simply displaying informative videos of ‘all things to do in Abu Dhabi’, but also provides comprehensive details about the different economic markets and how to access them, such as how to apply for trade licenses in Abu Dhabi’s mainland and freezones.

“Virtual licenses, for example, have now become a part of the Abu Dhabi ecosystem, allowing non-resident foreign investors to obtain an economic license for doing business in Abu Dhabi without any prior residence procedures and from any location outside the UAE,” said Raina.

In the first half of 2022, Abu Dhabi’s industrial sector registered strong growth, with the number of new licenses reaching 136, while the real estate market sustained growth, recording 7,474 property transactions amounting to over Dhs 22.51bn.

“The platform also helps investors be aware of how to open a trading account in the stock market for example,” explained Raina. “The aim is to educate, inform and enhance the awareness of entrepreneurs, businessmen, talents, and investors on all that is happening within Abu Dhabi.”

Earlier this year, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX)’s market capitalization opened above AED 2 trillion for the first time in its history, marking a landmark milestone that has made the region’s youngest exchange, the second largest in the Middle East in just two decades.

Destination Abu Dhabi can also extend its benefits to residents of nearby countries, who may not be fully aware of the numerous business and investment opportunities Abu Dhabi has to offer.

“In a nutshell, Abu Dhabi is a destination that provides limitless opportunities to people from all over the world, and the goal of Destination Abu Dhabi is to further shed a light on Abu Dhabi and all that it has to offer.”