The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has gone through significant changes at federal level during the past few months:
On January 1, the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) – the scheme regulating the pensions of all Emiratis except for those from Abu Dhabi – was handed to a new Director-General, Faras Al Ramahi (former CEO of InvestAD, the subsidiary of ADIC).
On February 7, the Prime Minister announced the appointment of five new ministers, four of them female.
On March 30, Sheikh Mansour, who was already the Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE and the Minister of the Presidential Court, was appointed UAE Vice President along with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in an unprecedented arrangement between the royal families of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
On May 24, the country’s leadership announced the reformation of the board of directors of the Emirates Investment Authority (EIA) - the only SWF at federal level - under the chairmanship of Sheikh Mansour, although further details have not been shared and the fund’s website still lists the same eight board members.
Lastly, the Prime Minister announced today the formation of a new Ministry of Investment to develop the UAE’s investment strategy both globally and domestically as it contends with growing economic competition from neighbors – i.e., to coordinate the outbound and inbound investment efforts as the country diversifies its sources of income and attracts international investors.
Mohamed Hassan Al Suwaidi, current CEO of ADQ, has been appointed inaugural minister and will keep both hats concurrently, in addition to his board positions at TAQA (Chair), Masdar (Deputy Chair), Aldar (Second Vice Chair), ADNOC Gas, ADPF, and ENEC, among other roles. The Ministry of Investment's efforts will likely have to be aligned with Abu Dhabi's ADIO (under DED, Ahmed Al Zaabi) and Dubai FDI (under DET, Helal Al Marri).
During the day, ADQ changed its website to reflect its CEO’s new position, although the changes were reversed later in the day. The only precedent in the region is the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA), which was formed in 2020 with Khalid Al Falih, the former Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources and former Chair of Saudi Aramco. Mr. Al Falih does not hold any concurrent executive position at the moment.
With the new ministry, the UAE has now 36 ministers under the President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed. 23 of them come from Abu Dhabi families, 12 from Dubai families, one from Sharjah and one from Ras Al Khaimah. A quarter of them are female.
Presidential Palace Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi (credit)
