(Yicai) Feb. 25 -- Abu Dhabi is leveraging its strategic position to help Chinese businesses expand globally, offering access to extensive trade networks and a favorable business environment, according to the chief of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office.

"I'm here to say that we are now ready to make your business go global," Badr Al-Olama, director general of the ADIO, told Yicai in an exclusive interview recently.

Al-Olama emphasized Abu Dhabi's role as a global hub, noting that Chinese companies can use the capital of the United Arab Emirates as a springboard to access other markets. Its network of comprehensive economic partnership agreements, covering 24 countries including India, Turkey, Indonesia, and Israel, encompasses 10 percent of the global economy.

The "hub-to-hub" partnership between China and Abu Dhabi creates a win-win relationship benefiting both economies, he said. "When a company decides to make Abu Dhabi its new home, we work with them irrespective of where the company came from," Al-Olama explained. "We work with them to make sure that we can help them grow."

The investment chief identified advanced manufacturing, new energy, and smart mobility as key sectors for Chinese investors. Abu Dhabi has already established mobility partnerships with Chinese firms such as autonomous aerial vehicle maker EHang Intelligent Technology and electric air-taxi manufacturer AutoFlight.

"The future of urban air mobility, the future of air taxis, is something that both China and Abu Dhabi are going to become the front runners in," Al-Olama noted, highlighting the strategic alignment between Chinese industrial capabilities and Abu Dhabi's development goals.

Al-Olama, who describes himself as a "chief storyteller," showcased Abu Dhabi's remarkable transformation from a region with limited infrastructure 50 years ago to today's modern, cosmopolitan city. He also highlighted Abu Dhabi's zero-income-tax policy, high quality of life, and access to USD1.7 trillion in assets managed by three sovereign wealth funds, making it an attractive destination for global businesses.

This message was reinforced during the Abu Dhabi Investment Forum in Shanghai on Feb. 20, where ADIO and the Abu Dhabi Global Market, an international financial center and free zone, engaged with Chinese investors. The forum, themed "Invest with Abu Dhabi," was part of a broader roadshow that included Beijing, aimed at accelerating next-generation industrial cooperation between the two regions.

Editor: Emmi Laine,  Sun Xuedong, Guo Xin, Shen Ying