Alabbar: manufacturing makes up 15% of UAE’s GDP

“If you look at our economy, real estate is only 12% of GDP, but manufacturing is 15%,” said the founder of Emaar Properties and Noon.com and Chairman of Eagle Hills, during a fireside chat “Vision, Venture, Value: Shaping the Region Through Leadership” moderated by celebrity entrepreneur and radio host Kris Fade. “Please look into manufacturing seriously. Start small; buy a 3D printer for your house — it’s not complicated. Do it with honesty and make a good product”, he added.

During the half-hour-long chat, Alabbar reflected on his decades-long career and spoke candidly about his early motivations, evolution as a leader, and his mission to give back to the UAE’s economy.

“When I started, I only wanted to make money. We didn’t have anything and I wanted to break out of poverty,” he said. “But once you make money, you realise payback is not about donations. It’s about good manners, honesty, taking care of your family and your country. I do everything for my country.”

Alabbar emphasised that his ventures have always been designed to spur economic development. “Every project we do adds 5% to a city’s GDP. We create jobs, we pay taxes, we help small businesses grow, from the window maker to the cake shop owner,” he said. “That’s real development.”

The entrepreneur also used the platform to share his views on building resilient businesses, underscoring that quality and integrity matter more than marketing hype. “If my product is good, it will market itself. I launched a $2 billion project in Egypt in three days, by phone only. No sales centre, no interiors. People trust the product,” he said. “Your product is your name, your family’s name, your country’s name.”

When asked about his move into technology with Noon.com, Alabbar said his motivation came from a sense of responsibility to the Arab world’s digital future. “We are 400 million Arabs who use technology five hours a day, but we have nothing to do with it,” he said. “That made me angry. So I decided to do something about it.”

Describing Noon’s early years as challenging but transformative, Alabbar said, “The first year was tough. I fired 350 out of 400 people. But today, we’re among the best in the world. We compete hard and we don’t give up.”

Talking about his guiding principles for lasting success, Alabbar unequivocally said discipline. “People say I’m brutal. I’m not brutal. I’m brutally disciplined,” he said. “Discipline of learning, of honesty, of hard work, of quality. Stick with good people. Good people make us better human beings.”

Organised by the Sharjah FDI Office (Invest in Sharjah) in partnership with the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA), the two-day international forum marks a major milestone for Sharjah in shaping the global conversation around sustainable investment and economic development. Under the theme “Transforming Our World: Investing for a Resilient and Sustainable Future,” the gathering brought together more than 10,000 participants from 142 countries, featuring 130 speakers, over 160 sessions, and 120 bilateral meetings.