The economy of the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates is one of the Arab countries whose founding was announced in 1971 AD; It emerged as a result of the federation of seven emirates: Dubai, Ajman, Ras al-Khaimah, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Umm al-Quwain, and Fujairah. The emirate of Abu Dhabi is the official capital of the UAE, and the Emirati dirham is the official currency of the state.

The UAE is located in the southeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula, and its sea shores contribute to the formation of the southern side of the Arabian Gulf, while its beaches on the western side are part of the Gulf of Oman. Therefore, the UAE has a strategic location. It has common land borders with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman, and it also overlooks the Strait of Hormuz.

The economy of the United Arab Emirates

The economy of the United Arab Emirates relied on fishing, agriculture, and trade in dates and pearls in the past, but since the fifties of the twentieth century AD after the discovery of oil in the Emirates; Radical developments appeared in its economy and were reflected in its social life, so many economic fields flourished in the country, such as: dependence on the extraction of natural gas and oil, the development of building real estate and companies, the growth of various industries, and other other fields.

The Emirates in general and its economy in particular are distinguished by several features that contribute to the continuation of its economic growth, and the most important of these features are:

• Strategic location: It is the distinction of the Emirates with its important location, which contributed to making it a center for business, as it has a network of distinguished air and land transportation that connects it with all countries of the world.
• Having financial reserves: It is the UAE’s reliance on a strong financial stock that helped it build a developed investment environment. This contributed to the UAE government continuing to provide appropriate funding for its projects and to pay the financial obligations incurred therefrom.
• Relying on economic diversification: It is the UAE's interest in implementing strategies that help stimulate diversification in the economy. This contributed to encouraging non-oil sectors to enhance their economic participation. Examples of these sectors are aviation, manufacturing industries, banking, tourism, services, and others.
• Enhancing the presence of foreign investment: It is the UAE's keenness to attract foreign investment to its economic sector. The UAE ranked first in 2014 among the countries in the Middle East that were able to attract foreign investments directly.

sectors of the UAE economy

The economy in the United Arab Emirates contains a group of major economic sectors, the most important of which are:

oil sector

Oil was discovered in the Emirates in 1958 AD after it required thirty years of research in a field called Bab, and after the completion of the development of this field in 1960 AD, its name became Murban 3, and it produced approximately 3674 barrels of oil on a daily basis, and the first shipment of oil was exported. Emirati oil in 1963 AD, and then many other oil fields were discovered, including the Bu Hasa field, the Asab field, and the Sahel field.

Agriculture sector

After the founding of the United Arab Emirates, the government in Abu Dhabi announced in 1977 AD its three-year development plan, and one of its focus areas was interest in the agricultural sector, and keenness to enhance its development permanently; Through the reclamation of agricultural lands, which before 1977 AD constituted 1% of the total lands of the Emirates, but with the developments witnessed in agriculture, it became 5% of the country’s area, and in 2011 AD the UAE was able to achieve self-sufficiency for its citizens by 50% of agricultural production Agricultural products in the Emirates included many crops of fruits and vegetables, such as: eggplant, tomatoes, and other plants and fruit trees.

industry sector

The United Arab Emirates paid attention to the industrial sector. Because it is the basis of the productive apparatus in it, and it constitutes an important part of its economy, and a means of development, and the industry sector is distinguished by the diversity of projects implemented in it, whether they are small or medium or dependent on the participation of foreign investment; The manufacturing industry in the UAE witnessed a growth rate of 2001% between 2015 and 7,2, and many high-quality industries appeared in the UAE local market, such as the aluminum industry, the chemical industry, and the iron industry. This industrial development contributed to improving investments. mega projects, attracting foreign investments, and enhancing reliance on modern technology.

tourism sector

The United Arab Emirates witnessed a great development in the tourism sector, as it became one of the most important sources of national income, and the Emirate of Dubai ranked fourth in the field of tourism in the world. Where its tourism investments managed to build many hotels, shopping centers, and tourist resorts; Which contributed to attracting foreign capital, and among the most important and famous tourist sites in the UAE are the Heritage Village, Burj Al Arab, Burj Khalifa, Ajman Museum, and many other sites.

money sector

The development of the financial sector in the United Arab Emirates relied on financial markets and a strong banking system. Which contributed to providing support to many areas of the financial sector, such as various products, gold, securities, and other financial fields, and this helped to attract a lot of local and foreign investments; As the rate of growth of the financial sector during the period between 2001 AD – 2015 AD reached approximately 14,5%, and there are many factors that contributed to enhancing the growth of the financial sector, including:

• Investors' view of the UAE as one of the regions that provide security for capital and diversified investments; As a result of its own political stability.
• Increasing the economic needs of the Emirati society; Which contributed to supporting economic demand, and this was an important factor in attracting capital.