Capital Of Commerce

Modern amenities make it easy to take care of business in Abu Dhabi.

- Sharon King Hoge

LIKE THE NAME “NEW YORK,” the moniker “Abu Dhabi” applies to both a geographical region and the principal city within it. And like NYC, the city of Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, sprawls across the mainland and interconnected islands. During the last half-century, like its glitzier neighboring emirate, Dubai, Abu Dhabi exploded from a sandy village into a gleaming modern metropolis of towering high-rises, mammoth luxury shopping centers and prestigious museums, offering a range of venues for hotel stays and entertaining.

The original commercial center developed on the namesake core island in a district just below its waterfront Corniche, crowned at one end by the Sheikh’s Presidential Palace and the nearby Emirates Palace Hotel. Locals maintain the Emirates Palace, its Moorish-style architecture decorated with flourishes of white marble and gold, is still the desirable location to propose holding a meeting with the Crown Prince. But the business center has moved.

About 10 years ago, Sowwah Island was designated the country’s new financial epicenter. Today renamed Al Maryah, it boasts the stock exchange; the free-zone Abu Dhabi Global Market; the headquarters of dozens of international banks and blue chip companies; the Cleveland Clinic, touted as the Middle East’s finest hospital; and a range of upscale support facilities, including the glitzy Galleria luxury mall.