UAE to invest $1.4 trillion in U.S. economy over 10 years, says White House

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has pledged a ten-year, $1.4 trillion investment framework in the United States, the White House said in a statement. This announcement follows a visit to the United States by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and National Security Advisor of the UAE, signaling a significant strengthening of economic ties.

The White House added that the framework will "significantly increase the UAE's existing investments in the U.S. economy, including in artificial intelligence infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, and U.S. manufacturing." The statement did not provide details on how the specific investment amounts would be allocated, leaving room for further clarification on the sector-specific distribution.

However, several deals between the UAE and the U.S. have already been announced this week, including: Abu Dhabi's MGX, BlackRock, Microsoft, and GIP welcoming Nvidia and xAI into the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP). Since its inception in September 2024, the AIP has attracted significant capital and partner interest, underscoring the growing demand for AI-ready data centers and power solutions. The partnership will initially seek to unlock $30 billion in capital from investors, asset owners, and enterprises, in turn mobilizing up to $100 billion in total investment potential, including debt financing.

Abu Dhabi sovereign investor ADQ announced that it will partner with U.S. private equity firm Energy Capital Partners (ECP) to invest over $25 billion to power data centers in the United States. ADQ and ECP have reached an agreement to establish a new 50-50 joint venture in the power generation and energy infrastructure sector. ADQ stated that their collaboration aims to "meet the growing power demand of data centers, hyperscale cloud companies, and other energy-intensive industries." The primary geographic focus of the joint venture will be the United States, with the partners planning to make over $25 billion in total capital investment across 25 gigawatts of projects. The partners’ combined initial capital contributions are expected to reach $5 billion. A portion of the capital may also be allocated to opportunities in other international markets.

ADNOC's XRG, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), announced a commitment to support U.S. natural gas production and exports through investment in the Next Decade liquefied natural gas export facility in Texas. They also plan to make significant investments in U.S. natural gas, chemicals, energy infrastructure, and low-carbon solutions assets. ADQ and Orion Resource Partners have reached a $1.2 billion mining cooperation agreement to secure the supply of critical minerals. The collaboration will establish a new 50-50 joint venture based in Abu Dhabi to make strategic investments in the metals and mining sector, aiming to enhance supply chain security for the UAE and globally. The joint venture partners will initially invest $1.2 billion over the first four years. Orion Abu Dhabi, based in ADGM, will invest in mining companies using various financial instruments, including purchasing shares, providing loans, and obtaining production-linked transactions such as royalties, revenue sharing, and purchase agreements. The statement also revealed that Emirates Global Aluminium plans to invest in the first new aluminum smelter in the United States in 35 years, which would nearly double domestic aluminum production in the U.S.

In September, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed met with former U.S. President Joe Biden, marking the UAE President's first visit to the White House. During the visit, the two leaders discussed deepening cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, investment, and space exploration. Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed's recent official visit to the United States marks another step in strengthening bilateral relations. During the visit, Sheikh Tahnoun met with several U.S. officials at the White House. The meetings focused on promoting economic and technological ties between the two countries. Discussions also covered ongoing regional challenges and strengthening the decades-long strategic partnership between the U.S. and the UAE.

The UAE is an important regional and global partner of the United States. The two countries maintain strong economic and investment ties. According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, bilateral trade between the two countries (excluding oil) is close to $40 billion, with merchandise trade increasing by 9.47% to reach $34.43 billion in 2024, compared to $31.45 billion in 2023. Gulf sovereign wealth funds are already large investors in the United States. Furthermore, Trump and his family have close business ties with the region. In January, Trump asked Saudi Arabia to invest $1 trillion in the U.S. over four years, and stated that he is likely to make his first overseas trip to the Gulf countries this month to reach an investment agreement.