UAE President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (right) grants an interview with chief editor of Egyptian daily Al Ahram on Nov. 25, 2008.

UAE President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has downplayed fears of declining oil prices impacting the national economy.

"Volatility in the oil market is not a new thing," Shaikh Khalifa said in a wide-ranging interview with an Egyptian daily Al Ahram that published on Nov. 26.

"In the past, we dealt with turbulences during which prices declined even further than today's level," he told Al Ahram.

"We are following what is happening in the oil market and working with our partners in Opec to control the negative fallout that many affect the stability of the global market."

Shaikh Khalifa also added: "We are investing oil revenues to develop human resources which are our most valuable resource, and also diversifying our national income though internal and external investments."

The President's comments came as the UAE ministers of economy and finance and the governor of the UAE Central Bank joined forces to form a new committee aimed at resuscitating the financial and banking sectors.

Abdullah Al Saleh, director-general of the UAE Ministry of Foreign Trade, said the government's commitment would boost all-round confidence in the local markets and relieve the economy of the burden of the global credit crisis.

The availability of liquidity and possible ways to rescue the property sector which, until recently, had been soaring, top the agenda to be discussed within the framework of the new committee.

Analysts welcomed the creation of the committee and said it will need to plough billions of dollars into the banking sector to allow them to continue lending and get the market back on track. GCC ministers of finance and foreign affairs, meanwhile, have decided to join the Kyoto Customs Convention.

"GCC ministers have decided to join Kyoto Customs Convention in their capacity as countries," Mohammad Al Mazroui, Assistant Secretary General for Economics at the GCC Secretariat, told Gulf News in Muscat on Nov. 25.

Dubai's GDP grew 168 % in the period from 2000 to 2006, for an annual growth rate of 17.9 %. However, next year's growth is expected to slow to 6 %, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on Nov. 25.

"These figures and our past successes cannot lead us to overlook the threat of the global financial cloud approaching the region," said DCCI director general Hamad Buamim, at a networking event.

"While, thankfully, our region is one of the few places in the world where growth is expected to continue based on the government's support of the major infrastructure projects.

"The country has predicted 6 % growth for next year and that is a big assurance for the world to come and do business in the Emirates," he added.

Buamim said there may also be a reduction in the number of companies operating in Dubai as the fallout from the global financial crisis takes hold.

The DCCI recorded 130,000 members in its August report with 66,040 owned by UAE nationals and 63,960 owned by other nationals.

Buamim said companies may start feeling the heat in the next six to nine months.

There may be a reduction in the number of companies, especially those with strong ties to countries hardest hit by the crisis such as the US and Europe, but he said small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Dubai would remain largely unaffected.

"The nature of the SMEs here is they are mainly family owned and are very conservative in nature," he said.

"Their financing comes from the family so I don't they will be affected directly by the crisis. They might be affected on the demand side."

Buamim said the largest contributor to Dubai's GDP remained the real estate sector.

In 2007, the sector contributed eight percent to the country's GDP with investments totalling Dh25.8 billion.

"The size of fixed investments in 2007 has grown to Dh144.5 billion against Dh121 billion in 2006. The investment percentage to domestic product has touched 20.7 percent in 2007," said Buamim.

"Although the real estate and manufacturing sectors jointly contributed 35 % of the total investments in the country during 2007, industries such as medicine, petrochemical, building materials and food, continue to surge."

An investment of over $100 billion (Dh367.3 billion) into large scale construction projects by 2010 has also positioned the sector for significant growth. The sector's absolute contribution to GDP has increased by 325 percent over the period from 2000 to 2006.

In the meantime, The government of Abu Dhabi is investing over $270 billion (Dh990.9 billion) in projects in the city of Abu Dhabi, a top executive of the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) said on Nov. 25.

ADAC Vice President Dan Cappell told industry delegates at the Middle East Duty Free conference in the capital that over $100 billion is being used in Abu Dhabi's transport infrastructure. The money will be invested over the next five years.

He added that Abu Dhabi's anticipated tour-ism boom from $1 million in 2004 to $5 million in 2015 is "supported with $10 billion investment in hotels over the next 10 years, adding over 17,000 rooms."

Cappell said Abu Dhabi's focus is on luxury five star hotel facilities.

Dubai will meet its all debt obligations as it puts a comprehensive economic plan together to ride out the current financial crisis, a top government official said.

Dubai's total debt obligation of Dh256 billion is much lower compared to its assets, which are valued at Dh1.3 trillion.

"Currently, the Dubai Government's sovereign debt obligations stand at $10 billion (Dh37 billion). At the same time, the total debt obligations of affiliated companies stand at $70 billion (Dh256 billion), compared with assets valued at $260 billion (Dh950 billion)," Mohammad Al Abbar said.

Al Abbar, chairman of the Advisory Council - the newly created crisis body of of the Dubai Government - and chairman of Emaar Properties, made the comments at a conference at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

"While our key sovereign assets are currently being evaluated, I can give you a rough estimation of their value, being over $90 billion (Dh330 billion). And this does not include our airports, bridges and the Metro. The total value of the assets of the government and affiliate companies in Dubai is well over Dh1.3 trillion."