Executive Council Resolution No. (104) of 2026 Concerning the Transfer of Certain Competencies from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office to the Department of Economic Development

Executive Council Resolution No. (104) of 2026 was issued on 15 July 2026, providing for the transfer of certain competencies from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office to the Department of Economic Development. These competencies had previously been transferred from the Department of Economic Development to the Abu Dhabi Investment Office pursuant to Executive Council Resolution No. (101) of 2024.

 

Redistribution of Institutional Competencies

Clause (1) provides for the transfer to the Department of Economic Development of the competencies assigned to the Abu Dhabi Investment Office under Executive Council Resolution No. (101) of 2024.

 

Accordingly, the Resolution does not establish new competencies in substantive terms, but rather reassigns the competent authority responsible for exercising the functions previously transferred in 2024. The scope of this transfer must therefore be interpreted by reference to Resolution No. (101) of 2024, which constitutes the principal legal basis for identifying the specific competencies restored to the Department of Economic Development.

 

Impact on the Legal Position of Both Entities

The Resolution directly modifies the allocation of powers between the Abu Dhabi Investment Office and the Department of Economic Development, restoring the transferred competencies to the Department as the authority responsible for exercising them following the Resolution’s entry into force.

 

Such resolutions primarily regulate the institutional allocation of administrative competencies rather than the substantive activities to which those competencies relate. Consequently, the legal provisions governing investment or economic development activities do not necessarily change merely because the relevant competencies are transferred. Instead, the change concerns the authority responsible for implementing those provisions and carrying out the associated administrative procedures.

 

Implementing Decisions

Clause (2) authorises the Chairman of the Department of Economic Development to issue the decisions necessary to implement the provisions of the Resolution.

This authority is of particular practical significance, as the transfer of competencies between government entities may require administrative arrangements concerning existing files, pending applications, databases, internal procedures, and coordination mechanisms between the two entities.

 

However, the Resolution does not expressly prescribe these arrangements, leaving their regulation to the implementing decisions issued by the Chairman of the Department within the scope of the Resolution.

 

Continuity of Existing Procedures and Pending Matters

The text of the Resolution does not expressly address the legal status of applications or administrative procedures that were pending before the Abu Dhabi Investment Office prior to the transfer of competencies.

 

From a regulatory perspective, the transfer of competencies does not, in itself, invalidate previous procedures or extinguish their legal effects. Rather, their continuity is generally presumed, subject to the mechanisms adopted to implement the transfer, unless otherwise expressly provided.

 

The implementing decisions are therefore particularly important in determining how existing matters are to be handled and in ensuring that neither a regulatory vacuum nor an overlap of competencies arises.

 

Repeal of Conflicting Provisions

Clause (3) provides for the repeal of any provision or rule that conflicts with the provisions of the Resolution.

 

This constitutes a general legal mechanism for resolving legislative or regulatory conflicts, whereby earlier provisions cease to apply to the extent of their inconsistency with the revised allocation of competencies, without necessarily resulting in the repeal of all related legislation or previous decisions.

 

Legal and Regulatory Implications of the Resolution

The Resolution consolidates the reassignment of certain economic and investment-related competencies to the Department of Economic Development, following their previous transfer to the Abu Dhabi Investment Office.

Its principal legal significance lies in redefining the government entity vested with administrative and executive authority over these competencies, while empowering the Chairman of the Department to issue the decisions necessary to complete the transfer.

 

Accordingly, a comprehensive legal interpretation of the Resolution requires reference to Executive Council Resolution No. (101) of 2024 to identify the transferred competencies in detail, together with a review of the implementing decisions issued by the Department of Economic Development to determine the full practical and regulatory implications of the transfer.