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- Herausgeber: Youcanprint
- Kategorie: Lebensstil
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
Knowing the place you are about to visit it is even more important when those places are Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is a dynamic reality that grows at impressive rates, an intriguing city, full of charm and full of amazing surprises. A City born only a few decades ago from the desert that has earned a place in the spotlight as The City of Records. A metropolis where traditions, Arab culture and innovation combine in a multitude of ways, to require a guide to better understand how to deal with it and know its pros and cons. Here is where the idea of writing The Dubai Phenomenon, the impossible becomes possible.
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Loredana Bocchieri and Valeria Al-Heureithi
THE DUBAI PHENOMENON
the impossible becomes possible
Youcanprint
Title | The Dubai Phenomenon, the impossible becomes possible
Author | Loredana Bocchieri and Valeria Al - Heureithi
ISBN | 9788831660143
© 2020 - All rights reserved to the Author
This work is published directly by the Author through the Youcanprint self-publishing platform and the Author holds every right of the same in an exclusive manner. No part of this book can therefore be reproduced without the prior consent of the author.
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1.1 Historical outline and main economic indicators of the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates are a state in the South-East of the Arabian peninsula, in South-Western Asia, composed of 7 Emirates, which before 1971 were known as the State of the truce, where by truce was meant the blockade that had imposed the British to some Arab sheiks who "encouraged" piracy to the detriment of ships passing in the waters in front of their country. Only in 1971 will the United Arab Emirates become an independent State from Great Britain.
The United Arab Emirates have a federal government composed of several bodies: the president and his deputy, the Supreme Council, the cabinet, the national federal council and an independent judiciary with a federal supreme court. The Supreme Council has both legislative powers and executive powers and includes the rulers of the seven emirates. The cabinet is composed of ministers coming mainly from the ruling families of the emirates.
The fact that the traditional tribal system of government of each emirate was based on similar political principles facilitated the creation of the United Arab Emirates.
The hereditary dynastic family domain still operates in every emirate as a local government system under the aegis of the federal system. Members of dominant families occupy the most important positions in their political administrations. The political system was able to keep pace with economic and social changes.The sheiks are very appreciated for the dual role of modernizers and guardians of cultural heritage.
They still have traditional majlis where citizens have access to their leaders.
The two most important emirates are Abu Dhabi and Dubai and they are also the only ones with veto power in matters of national importance.
Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and is one of the richest cities in the world; only 150 kilometers away is Dubai, famous for its skyscrapers and between these Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab.The United Arab Emirates government has conducted 4 censuses since the first in 1980. In 2005, Abu Dhabi was the emirate with the largest number of inhabitants. Since then, Dubai has grown rapidly to become the most populated city in the United Arab Emirates.
Currently the reigning emirs are:
Abu Dhabi Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Ajman Humad Bin Rashid Al Nuaimi
Dubai Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Fujairah Hamad Bin Mohammed Al Sharqi
Ras al Khaimah Saud Bin Saqr al Qasimi
Sharjah Sultan III Bin Muhammad al Qasimi
Umm al Qwain Saud Bin Rashid Al Mu’alla
The surface area of the United Arab Emirates is 83,600 square kilometers. With an estimated population of 9,68 million in 2019, the current population density is 114 individuals per sq. Km. Furthermore the three largest emirates, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, are home to almost 85% of the population.
Source: World Population Prospects 2017 Revision.
The official language is Arabic; English is the commercial language and Hindi, Urdu, Farsi and Filipino are also spoken.
The monetary unit of the United Arab Emirates is the Dirham (Dh) divided into 100 fils. Since 2002 the dirham of the United Arab Emirates is officially linked to the US dollar.
On November 29, 2014, the Governor of the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates stated that the exchange rate of the local currency will remain anchored to the US Dollar, as this currency policy has contributed to maintaining the economic stability of the country and favoring the flow of investments.
The dirham was introduced in May 1973, less than two years after the Emirates became an independent nation. The new currency of the United Arab Emirates, whose name actually derives from the Greek expression of "grab a handful", replaced a variety of currencies that had been used in the Persian Gulf region in the years prior to independence.
In all the Emirates, the so-called Gulf rupee, was widely used from 1959 to 1966. Later all the emirates except Abu Dhabi, opted first for the Saudi riyal, then for the riyal of Qatar and Dubai. In Abu Dhabi the Bahrain dinar was legal before the dirham was presented and officially adopted throughout the country. Today rumors are circulating for a planned monetary union between the GCC member states. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a political and economic alliance of six countries on the Arabian Peninsula: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Founded in 1981 the GCC promotes economic, security, cultural and social cooperation between the six states and holds a summit every year to discuss cooperation and regional affairs.
Because of their geographical proximity, similar political systems and common socio-cultural positions, the immediate goal for these countries was to protect themselves from threats after the Iran-Iraq war.
While there is indeed a monetary council of the GCC there has been no concrete development towards a unified currency for the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
The United Arab Emirates had already withdrawn from discussions about a potential common currency when the new Monetary Council was to be located in Riyadh rather than Dubai. Everything therefore makes it seem that the dirham will remain the official currency of the United Arab Emirates.
1.2 The monetary coinage
1 AED is equal to 100 fils. The coins are available for 1 fil, 5 fils, 10 fils, 25 fils, 50 fils and 1AED. However, while the smaller coins for 1, 5 and 10 fils exist technically, they are quite rare in circulation and in actual use, especially the coins of 1 fils. The United Arab Emirates currency banknotes include 5AED (brown), 10AED (green), 20AED (blue), 50AED (purple), 100AED (pink), 200AED (yellow-brown), 500AED (navy blue) and 1,000 AED (light green and blue).
It is possible to find green-brown 200AED banknotes in circulation and certainly not counterfeit money, but only the series issued in 1989, while the most recent yellow banknotes have been in print since 2008 onwards. The banknotes usually represent reference buildings in the United Arab Emirates (for example the famous Jumeirah Mosque in Dubai), typical animals of the Persian Gulf region (such as an antelope or a hawk) and objects traditionally associated with life in the United Arab Emirates (as example a khanjar dagger or a dhow sailing ship).
While inflation in the UAE has declined considerably from the historical high of 12.3% in 2008 the UAE currency is still subject to some annual depreciation. According to the World Bank, the annual inflation rate ranged from 0.9% (2010) to 2.3% (2014), some other sources assume that annual inflation has increased again, bringing it to an estimate of 4% or more in the 2015.
Main economic indicators of the UAE
1.3 Not only Petrodollar
50 years have passed since the discovery of the offshore oil fields of the United Arab Emirates and the black gold has transformed the Emirates into one of the richest countries in the world. The oil and gas sector today still represents over 25% of the GDP of the country, in particular Abu Dhabi relies on petrodollars as the main source of income. The United Arab Emirates are also trying to intensify a strategy of economic diversification, to make up for the fall in oil prices that recently affected their own economic growth.
As for the economy, the first thing that comes to mind is oil, but the booming oil and gas sector is relatively recent. Before the Emirates became independent of the United Kingdom, their economy was based mainly on subsistence farming, fishing, maritime trade in the Persian Gulf and pearl fishing. The discovery of offshore oil fields in 1966, only five years before the state of the emirates as a British protectorate ended, drastically changed the economic situation.
Today the economy of the United Arab Emirates is among the major national economies of the Arab world, second only to neighboring Saudi Arabia and is the largest consumer market in the Middle East. Its natural resources have also transformed the United Arab Emirates into one of the richest countries in the world, with a high per capita income; it still has some of the largest oil and gas reserves in the world that continues to fuel the economy of the United Arab Emirates.
The country's dependence on the oil sector is also its weakest point. Not only are the reserves, no matter how abundant, destined to run out at some point, but falling oil prices in recent years have damaged the economy of the United Arab Emirates. This is why a process of economic diversification has been launched in recently aimed at increasing the contribution to the economy of the non-oil sector and ensuring a greater balance in fiscal policy. Among the central elements of the economic diversification process there is the growing interest in the renewable resources sector.
The Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which expects to make investments for AED 150 billion by 2050 (about 38 billion euros) aims to make the Emirate of Dubai a global hub for clean energy and the green economy. The goal is to provide 75% of the Emirate's energy from clean sources by 2050.
In line with the strategy of economic diversification, the government is also implementing a strategy of greater support for SMEs with the objective of bringing their contribution to GDP from 40% to 45% by 2021. In terms of the sustainability of public finances, the United Arab Emirates in recent years has progressively increased taxation, especially indirect taxation, in order to reduce the dependence of tax revenues on oil revenues. In particular, at the beginning of 2018 the value added tax was introduced with a rate of 5% and from October 2017 an excise duty of 100% on tobacco and 50% on energy drinks.
From the last two years, a tax has been introduced in the hotel and tourism sector, equal to 25% of services, and since 2016 a municipal tax on the value of real estate properties and rental contracts.
The United Arab Emirates possess a huge financial mass that they invest abroad through sovereign funds. The destination of investments is increasingly diversifying and a growing amount of portfolio is transformed into direct investments and ever increasing shares are directed towards Asia and Africa.
The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates and the Economist Intelligence Unit estimate that foreign investments are between 500 and 800 billion US dollars of which at least 250/300 billion are managed by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the Sovereign Fund of Abu Dhabi.
To all this we must also add the investments of the private assets of the main Sheikhs of the Country.
The Emirates are already increasing the variety of economic sectors, products and services, but the country's strategic position as a trade center for re-exports, its well-developed infrastructure, an open and transparent economy and a politically stable environment are all elements of favor of the diversed economy of the United Arab Emirates of the future.
1.4 The other economic sectors
Not surprisingly, the oil and gas industries represent a considerable part of the United Arab Emirates' gross domestic product (GDP), but not as far as can be supposed. Because of this diversification strategy (less than 30% of GDP comes from the extraction and export of crude oil and natural gas) the economy of Abu Dhabi, in particular, depends heavily on its petrodollars which have also made it the richer emirate.
In total, about 60% of the UAE's GDP is due to the secondary sector (ie the petrochemical industry, construction, ship repair, light industries selected as textile production). Since agriculture and fishing make a negligible contribution of just 1%, the rest of the country's GDP comes from its thriving service sector, such as finance, real estate, logistics and tourism.
The tertiary sector also offers the majority of jobs in the Emirates economy: almost four-fifths of the workforce (78%) work in the services sector; 15% is employed in production and the remaining 7% is earned by living in agriculture or fishing.
The primary sector is rather weak and represents only a minimum percentage of the country's wealth production and even if several reclamation projects have been carried out to increase the cultivable area, agriculture is practiced only in the oases, where cereals and vegetables are mainly cultivated, especially tropical fruit. Livestock farming (especially sheep, goats and camels) is also fairly small, while fishing continues to be fairly important and allows some export.
Abu Dhabi was the slowest Emirate in pursuing the objectives of economic diversification and the most resistant to opening up to foreign investments and nevertheless excels in the process of involvement of the private sector in the development of infrastructures and key services, especially water and energy.
Dubai has instead concentrated its efforts on the diversification of the economy in non-oil industrial sectors and above all on the expansion of the service sector, with the aim of becoming a primary regional and international commercial hub, becoming the most dynamic and innovative Emirate of the Federation in just a few years, promoting also special technological, commercial and financial centers such as:
Dubai Internet City
Dubai Media City
Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC)
Dubai Health Care City
Knowledge Village
Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC)
Gold and Diamond Park
Dubai South
The recent diversification strategy follows the outlined guidelines in the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 and Dubai's Strategic Plan 2015 documents. The objective is to increase investments in the industrial sector and in other export-oriented sectors such as: heavy industry, transport, petrochemical, tourism, information technology, telecommunications, renewable energy, aviation and space, oil and gas services.
Significant progress have also been made in the satellite and telecommunications, aviation and renewable energy sectors and despite the change in the international economic context, the pre-established objectives remain unchanged.
At the federal level, the United Arab Emirates are pursuing the guidelines outlined in the Vision 2021 document, which was drafted by the same Sheik Maktoum, and aims to develop a highly productive and competitive economy based on innovation, science, technology and research by the Federation's 50th anniversary.
2021 is also the year planned for the launch of the first Arab Islamic space probe on Mars by the Emirates Space Agency.
Tourism has well has made a great contribution to the success of the diversification strategy.
In 2014 the record number of visitors to Abu Dhabi hotels was recorded and a remarkable performance was also recorded in the accommodation facilities of Dubai.
This constant increase is facilitated by the continuous development of the two Etihad and Emirates airlines as well as the parallel improvement and expansion of aviation-related infrastructure. An expansion of the country's airlines will be supported by substantial purchases of new aircraft and the opening of new routes. Dubai predicts that the aviation industry will contribute 32% of GDP by 2020. The transport routes are modern and in continuous development.
The areas to the North and along the coast of the Arab Emirates have an extensive road network that connects all the main cities, while in the regions to the West and South the roads are still poorly developed and dangerous as they cross the desert and in some places are unpaved.
In 1980 the longest route was the E11, later known as Sheik Zayed Road, the highway that connected all the emirates.
Along the coast there are numerous ports, the main ones are:
Jebel Ali
Port Rashid
Port Khalid
Port Saeed
Port Khor Fakkan
Port Zayed
On the whole territory of the Emirates there are 22 airports of which the main one is the Dubai International Airport, which in 2015 was in first place in the list of airports with the highest passenger traffic in the world.
1.5 The international relations of the United Arab Emirates
