Abu Dhabi private sector’s contribution to the emirate’s economy is much less than expected, a senior official was quoted as saying.

Private-owned companies only contributed a quarter of the emirate’s gross domestic product, Mohammed Omar Abdullah, undersecretary of the Department of Economic Development, was quoted as saying by a Gulf News report.

'The contribution of the private sector to Abu Dhabi's GDP is no more than 25 per cent which is less than expectations,' he said at a panel discussion at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI).

He said that the emirate planned to strengthen its partnership with the private sector by adopting proper action plans and economic strategy and called for a better, stronger partnership between both public and private sectors to stimulate economic growth by making use of opportunities and skill at hand.

Ebrahim Al Abed, economic expert at the Department of Economic Development, said Abu Dhabi's strategy is based on diversifying income sources by nurturing the non-oil sectors.

“The government is trying hard to amplify the public-private partnership and enhance foreign direct investments by entering into joint ventures which have comparative advantages consistent with the goals of Vision 2030,' said Al Abed. “Oil contributed 49.7 per cent of Abu Dhabi's GDP in 2010.”

'Abu Dhabi's GDP is Dh648 billion ($176.45 billion) as of September,' Al Abed said. 'The Abu Dhabi GDP at current prices underwent remarkable growth of 15.9 per cent in 2010, rising from Dh535 billion ($145.68 billion) in 2009 to Dh620 billion ($169 billion) in 2010, which confirms that the local economy has surpassed the repercussions of the crisis which hit the global economy since 2008.'