City wins laurels from Global Financial Centres Index
ABU DHABI 12 September 2017: Abu Dhabi City has won the TomTom International Award as the ‘World’s Best City in Developing the Infrastructures Related to Traffic Management’ for 2016.
The win is as a result of the emirate’s sophisticated road network and solid infrastructure. Abu Dhabi City ranked first based on the TomTom annual global traffic index, which classifies road quality and measures congestion levels in each city, said Wam.
The study conducted by TomTom, a Dutch company specialised in the production of navigation systems, traffic maps and GPS systems, included 390 cities in 48 countries around the world.
Awaidah Murshed Al Marar, Chairman of Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport, said, “Winning this highly coveted international award, which commands great international attention from the bodies concerned with infrastructure and traffic development around the world, is an indicative of the great progress made by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in advancing infrastructure including roads and transport networks and usage of smart transportation technology systems.”
According to Al Marar the volume of investments in improving transport systems, traffic management, traffic signals control and other traffic flow improvement projects in the emirate are valued at Dh581 million.
“The Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport is currently carrying out projects worth Dh909 million in traffic and transportation management, in keeping with the development seen by road network and ensuring smooth traffic flow,” added Al Marar.
Mohammed Darwish Al Qamzi, General Manager of Integrated Transport Centre, said, “Several factors have contributed to developing the traffic system and enabled Abu Dhabi to win this international award such as reducing traffic congestion by 14 per cent annually over the past years, as per TomTom Traffic Index.”
This success is attributed to the high quality of roads and infrastructure and transport network as well as the modern technologies used in monitoring, controlling and managing traffic in Abu Dhabi cities, Al Qamzi concluded.
Abu Dhabi recognised as top international financial destination on Global Financial Centres Index
Abu Dhabi has been ranked among the top 25 cities in the world in terms of economic competitiveness as a financial centre, moving up three rankings from the previous position on the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI).
The development was announced during the launch of the GFCI 22 in Abu Dhabi Global Market, ADGM, premises Monday.
“As the capital of the UAE, Abu Dhabi has achieved a substantial increase in its economic and political influence, both on the regional and global levels in recent years, ” said the report, citing the new initiatives introduced by the government of Abu Dhabi to foster growth industries and a sustainable, knowledge-based economy, including the successful merger of NBAD and FGB into First Abu Dhabi Bank, creating one of the region’s largest banks with total assets in excess of US$180 billion.
Whilst mature cities such as London, New York, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore maintain their leads, the recent index highlighted how emerging economies have gained considerable strides in the global rankings index as financial hubs.