About Abu Dhabi

Local Time - The local time is four hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.

Currency - Dirhams, often abbreviated as AED or Dhs

Climate - The temperature begins to cool down in September (average 32.5° C) with temperatures in November dropping considerably to 24.4° C (max. 31° C and min. 18.5° C).

Dress Code at Exhibition & Conference
As this is a business conference, dress code is business attire throughout

Dress Code In Abu Dhabi
Lightweight summer clothing is suitable most of the year, but it is advisable to bring some warmer garments for the evenings.  In hotels, restaurants, shopping-malls and in the venue, the air-conditioning can be a little cold and it is therefore suggested that warmer clothing is worn at those times.  The attitude to dress in Abu Dhabi is relaxed but visitors (men and women) should show respect for local culture and customs in public places and avoid excessively revealing clothing.

Alcohol - Alcohol is served to non-Muslims in all major hotels and licensed restaurants, but public drunkenness and drinking and driving are not tolerated.

Driving - Visitors to Abu Dhabi can rent or drive a car if they have a valid international driving license issued by the country from which their driving license has been granted. Note must be made that while the law allows visitors to drive privately registered vehicles, some insurance companies will not cover accident claims, as they only insure vehicles for drivers holding a valid UAE driving license.

Nationals or residents of other Gulf Cooperation Council countries do not require an international driving license, and can drive or rent a car in Abu Dhabi using their GCC-issued driving license for the duration of their visit in the emirate (up to three months).

Security and Emergency Numbers  - Is Abu Dhabi safe for tourists?
There is virtually zero crime rate in Abu Dhabi, and the Abu Dhabi Police has highly efficient law enforcement and emergency procedures in place. For emergencies call the following numbers:

998 - Ambulance services
999 – Police (also 02 – 4461461)
997 - Fire
999 – Helicopter Service

Photography - Visitors to Abu Dhabi should avoid photographing women in general, and particularly national women, without their permission. It is always courteous to ask before photographing people. Military, government and airport installations are not allowed to be photographed.

The UAE was formally established in December 1971, following an agreement between rulers of the seven emirates or sheikhdoms to form a union. These emirates are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah (which joined the union in early 1972), and Fujairah.

Abu Dhabi is the seat of federal government and the country’s capital, and haven for some of the world’s biggest oil-producing companies and most luxurious hotels and sporting facilities.

The UAE lies on the south-eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and west and the Sultanate of Oman to the southeast, while Qatar lies to the northwest. 80% of the land is occupied by the emirate of Abu Dhabi. UAE’s population of 4.43 million as of 2006 comprises roughly 20 percent Emirati nationals with the rest accounted for mostly by Asian, African and European nationals.  The emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai comprise over two-thirds (67%) of the country’s total population.

The country’s impressive economic performance sent the gross domestic product (GDP) rising to 29.32% in 2006 at current prices, reaching about $168.5 billion. This economic prosperity, coupled with a liberal business and social environment, ensures that people from nearly every country in the world will continue to come here to live, work and play.

The country’s extraordinary GDP growth has been driven primarily by the galloping oil prices in the international market, as well as the increasing traction of public joint stock companies and investments in the country’s growing number of free zones.