UAE | Media
From desert 'sandscapes' to a master-planned world
Thanks to its leaders, the UAE remains at the forefront of transformation.
- By Saifur Rahman, Business Editor
- Published: 01:18 September 30, 2008
What Dubai thinks today, the rest of the Gulf thinks tomorrow - that's how the emirate led the economic transformation of the region over the last 30 years.
And Gulf News continued to remain the major point of reference for credible business news, features and information - both in print and on online channels.
The global economy underwent a sea change since Gulf News started to cover business news in 1978, although not as extensive as its current coverage of business and economic activities, probably because Dubai was still then a regional economic outpost - graduating from a fishing settlement.
The global economy, which was then dominated by the Cold War with a clear division between the capitalist and socialist blocks, began to merge gradually in the 1980s. By the late 1980s, the socialist blocks began to crumble in the face of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) - the two famous (or infamous) doctrines that helped capitalism penetrate these societies.
This was happening at a time when Bill Gates and Microsoft continued to simplify personal computing, making business and learning applications easier while information technology began to enter middle class households.
From the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) - the global trade watchdog transformed itself into the World Trade Organisation by 1996 - creating a global negotiating platform on trade policy issues - some of which often end up in fish market-like bargaining.
However, three developments - the introduction of mobile phones, the internet and Micro-soft Windows - changed the scenario overnight as communication and information technology began to merge, changing the way people conducted business and communications.
In the meantime, China and India began to emerge as two major players in the global economy - supporting the worldwide demand for goods and services. While China offered global industries a vast outsourcing and manufacturing platform to cash in on cheap labour and materials, India followed a gradual reform policy that is expected to continue over a longer period to support global growth.
Derailed from integration
While the businesses were reshaping to embrace globalisation in the 1990s, dirty politics continued to create barriers, derailing the global economy from integration. The predictions of American political writer Samuel P. Huntington published in The Clash of Civilisations in 1993 - in which he identified Islam as the biggest challenge to Western civilisations - appeared to have been successfully executed on September 11, 2001 - that changed global politics and econ-omics to a certain extent.
Gulf and Arab capitals that helped support the growth of US and European economies for over two decades till 2001 suddenly came under scrutiny and attack. This led to a massive capital flow to the tune of about $1 trillion (Dh3.67 trillion) back to the GCC economies, waiting for the governments to unlock opportunities.
While many Arab policymakers were scratching their heads on how to utilise this fortune and create economic opportunities for the people, the Dubai government then took a bold decision that changed its desert landscape almost overnight.
In May 2002, Dubai opened its land and property sector to foreign investors with freehold and leasehold ownership in selected areas.
The move opened avenues of opportunities for investors. In the absence of proper investment vehicles, these repatriated Arab capital found a fertile land that later transformed vast desert "sandscapes" into master-planned communities - some of which are visible now.
However, the biggest change during the last 30 years took place in the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf region that transformed itself from a small trading block to a major economic powerhouse.
Thanks to the vision of the UAE's leadership, the country remained at the forefront of this transformation. Powered by investment and trade, the UAE overtook Egypt as the second biggest Arab economy after Saudi Arabia in 2006.
While most of the Gulf economies thrived on oil income as record high oil prices fetched rich dividends, Dubai continued to build its economy around non-hydrocarbon resources that are expected to grow after the oil dries up.
- Gulf News takes a look at the last 30 years to highlight some developments that changed our readers' lives.
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