Financial Advice and Investment Support
Abu Dhabi offers world-class opportunities for international investors.
Discover the scope and range of financial advice and investment support the Emirate has to offer.
The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is cultivating innovation in the world’s most advanced sectors, including FinTech, AgriTech and MedTech – teeming with opportunities for investors from across the globe. The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) is the first port of call in the Emirate that helps channel these opportunities and connect investors and businesses to optimum resources.
Since ADIO was established in 2019, it has supported dozens of investors and companies through its tailored programmes.
ADIO commenced the establishment of its international network of offices in January 2021, expanding its global presence to better support investors from around the world. Spanning Tel Aviv, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Beijing, Seoul, New York and San Francisco, the network is designed to connect cities, empowering companies to grow within Abu Dhabi and around the world, with the offices serving as bridges between key international markets.
Financial and Non-Financial Incentive Initiatives
Global businesses and investors alike can access ADIO’s range of financial and non-financial incentives in their local markets to receive bespoke support that is most relevant to their objectives.
Financial incentives include rebates and stimuli to invest in the growing priority sectors of Abu Dhabi, among other parameters.
ADIO also offers a range of non-financial incentives – from exemptions and special licenses to financial advice and investor exposure.
Key financial and investment support initiatives
ROADSHOW EVENTS
ADIO’s international offices regularly organise events to introduce their respective markets through a “roadshow” series that welcomes over 1,000 attendees and 21 speakers. These roadshows showcase the vast opportunities available in Abu Dhabi to the global investor community. Close cooperation between ADIO and international businesses is hugely mutually beneficial. International investors, start-ups and corporates alike receive all the support they need to set up in Abu Dhabi and make the most of the unparalleled opportunities offered by the Emirate.
THE INNOVATION PROGRAMME
One of ADIO’s major incentive programmes is the Innovation Programme, representing an incentive pool that totals around $545m. It offers financial incentives including rebates to support investments in innovation, and non-financial incentives including office space and other facilities, regulatory assistance, select trial licences, and potential exemptions for select government fees and requirements. The programme’s global outlook reflects wider efforts by Abu Dhabi to increase economic cooperation with innovative companies from around the world.
INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS
Through the Innovation Programme and other initiatives, ADIO supports and partners with a number of international companies. This includes the UK-based Callsign, which is building a world-class centre of technical excellence in Abu Dhabi. Elsewhere in Europe, German multinational ThyssenKrupp recently signed an agreement with UAE-based green energy company Helios. Proving its global outreach, the Innovation Programme also partnered with South Korean cloud company Bespin Global, which has set up its regional headquarters and two innovation centres in Abu Dhabi’s Hub71. On a wider scale, Korean contractors also supported the construction of the Emirate’s Barakah nuclear power plant, contributing to the UAE’s net-zero target. ADIO also provides powerful support to several US companies in high-growth areas, including AgriTech innovators AeroFarms and Nanoracks. This helps Abu Dhabi be recognised as the site of pioneering new technology aimed at solving some of the world’s most pressing issues.
Expanding support to develop a future-focused economy
Abu Dhabi is already the Middle East and North Africa’s (MENA) smartest city, according to the Smart City Index, and new partnerships are accelerating connectivity. As ADIO continues to leverage its network of offices to tailor its services and bring them closer to international businesses, investors will have more opportunities than ever to tap into Abu Dhabi’s world-class, innovation-led offering.