The UAE; Economic Diversification

Since 1974, the United Arab Emirates has been one of the world’s largest producers and distributors of crude oil. They are second only to Saudi Arabia, and oil profits make up over 25% of the country’s annual income (CIA World Factbook). Before oil was discovered in the 1950’s, the United Arab Emirates’s economy was reliant upon few other resources. But when these resources started to run out, the UAE’s economy experienced a small crash, resulting in major job loss. The government is now aiming to avoid a similar outcome by decreasing it’s reliance upon few resources, and creating jobs outside of oil businesses. Their efforts have been sufficient, as they have been able to take advantages of opportunities in construction, banking, and most significantly, tourism (BBC). at the rate which their economy is expanding, the United Arab Emirates’s move to decrease their dependence on oil profits will be successful. By the end of 2018, tourism will be the next big business.

Before oil was discovered in the 1950’s, and the UAE was still under the control of Britain after the Sykes-Picot agreement, the primary exports were fish and pearls (BBC). Fishing is still a major resource, but when pearling started to go under, the UAE’s economy experienced a small crash, and many people were left without jobs. Learning from this, once oil was discovered, the government knew that it would need to diversify its economy if it was to avoid encountering a similar problem. attempts at other sources of income have been construction, tourism, transportation, shipbuilding, and banking. Up until 2009, all of these businesses advanced until the country’s economy tripped up again and the demand for construction started to decline. The government decided to inc...

... middle of paper ...

...he World), and to prevent running into economic trouble, the country has chosen to diversify its industries (BBC). There has been significant growth over the past couple of years, and many other industries have appeared, including construction, textiles, transportation, shipbuilding, concrete, some agriculture, and the newest big business, tourism. The UAE’s short-term goal is to have at least 100,000 new jobs created and occupied by Emirati citizens by 2030 (Hadman, Sara, New York Times). Judging by the rate at which they are experiencing economic growth, it is very possible that they will be able to create and occupy at least 40, 000 of those new jobs by 2018. Then. the new UAE, one with a brighter future will continue to flourish, even if the oil runs out.

Works Cited

BBC, CIA World Factbook, Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, Countries of the World