UAE - Dubai - The Energy Base Of Dubai & Other UAE Emirates.

The UAE has one of the most dynamic economies in the Middle East. The leading emirate of Abu Dhabi is by far the wealthiest of the seven union members in oil and gas. The other emirates, with Dubai in the forefront, have become centres for trade and tourism. Dubai as the main hub rivals Singapore and Hong Kong. With its petroleum resources depleting, Dubai is building the other sectors to a level where their contribution to its GDP should be 100% by 2015. By then Dubai will have become almost totally dependent on oil and gas imports.

Dubai, which hosted the IMF/World Bank meetings in September 2003, has reached maturity as a world financial and business centre. It has established the region's first money, capital and reinsurance markets. These were brought together under the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), which opened for business at the beginning of 2003. The Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) is being established and will trade in crude oil and fuel oil futures (see on following pages). The DIFC and DME are adding to Dubai's status as the region's trading, tourism, sports and IT capital, where blue-chip companies and financial institutions from all over the world are already established. It has launched the Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO), a 6.5m sq m free zone being built at Nad al-Sheba, south-east of Dubai City, where various industries ranging from micro-electronic to opto-electronic categories will be established.

With Dubai's infrastructure including a state-of-the art air terminal, excellent roads and top hotels, the emirate's projects feature a $5 bn Dubailand which will be the Disneyland of the Middle East, a 700-800 Burj Dubai which will be the tallest building in the world and will have the world's biggest shopping mall, the $3 bn Palm Islands development that can be seen from the moon, a $2.5 bn expansion of the Dubai International Airport, a $2.3-3.5 bn light rail transport system for a population that will reach 3m and to have 360,000 cars by 2020, a Dubai Festival City to cost about $2 bn, and the list is endless. Dubai's ruler Shaikh Muhammad Bin Rashed al-Maktoum is the UAE's vice president and prime minister is an extremely busy man. But he still says what he has achieved so far is only a small part of what he has planned to do for Dubai.

Sharjah, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Ajman and Umm al-Quwain are diversifying their economic base. Sharjah is having a huge "world trade centre". Fujairah is becoming the world's top bunkering market, in April 2006 having overtaken Rotterdam with the fuel oil sales average of 12m tons/year.

Dubai is one of the world's main shopping and re-export centres. In October 2000 it inaugurated the world's first Internet City, a free zone for e-business now featuring a successful website initiative called tejari.com. In October 2001 it opened the world's first e-government.

The smaller UAE emirates are cushioned by the oil wealth of Abu Dhabi, which assures them support through the federal budget as well as ad hoc financing if the necessity arises. Such support keeps the UAE a cohesive unit in line with the vision of Abu Dhabi former ruler and UAE President, the late Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan. The current ruler and UAE President, Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed, is following on his path with the help of UAE Vice President and PM Shaikh Muhammad of Dubai, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Shaikh Muhammad bin Zayed. Abu Dhabi alone has about 10% of the world's proven oil reserves, and this has helped the UAE as a whole to have one of the highest per capita incomes in the world.