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Dubai’s GDP
rocketed to £29 billion last year, and 6 million
people visited the emirate
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DUBAI
Why should you wait for the future to come to you?
Dubai’s
economic prowess and eye-catching constructions are
turning heads
Whether it is the indoor ski
slope, the world’s tallest skyscraper, or man-made
resort island developments, the Emirate of Dubai has
captured the attention of the world. While construction
cranes continue to build trademark architectural projects
that defy the imagination, UAE Prime Minister and
Vice President – and Ruler of Dubai – Sheikh
Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is enacting a long-term
strategy to transform the emirate into a global commercial
and trade hub.
Sheikh Mohammed has helped
transform Dubai’s economic makeup. Last year,
he unveiled the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015, designed
to treble the economy from 2005 levels to £59
billion by sustaining double-digit growth in knowledge-based
industries, tourism, and trade. In eight years time,
per capita GDP is expected to balloon to £24,000.
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Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid
Al Maktoum
UAE Prime Minister and Vice President, and Ruler
of Dubai |
Already, services represent
three-quarters of Dubai’s GNP, the key driver
to sustain stable growth rates. Since 2000, Dubai
has registered buoyant economic growth, expanding
to a record £29 billion last year. The emirate
is now one of the region’s largest tourist destinations,
attracting six million visitors per annum. Last year,
over 34 million passengers travelled through Dubai
International Airport, the regional passenger and
cargo hub. “It is our guide and our reference
while we work to consolidate Dubai as a pioneering
global city, bursting with vibrancy and creativity,
and attracting the best minds and the most successful
businesses to an environment where living and working
is a pleasure,” reflects Sheikh Mohammed.
Financial services – according
to the strategy’s goals – will represent
over £8 billion of GDP by 2015, spurred by such
initiatives as the Dubai International Financial Centre,
which opened four years ago. Firms such as flagship
air carrier Emirates and container port operator DP
World have made serious inroads into the global market.
“We believe that the role of the government should
be restricted to legislation and regulation, in addition
to the continuous development of infrastructure, thus
making the private sector the engine of the development
process,” says the Sheikh.
As Dubai integrates into the
global economy, its leadership is fine-tuning performance
by focusing on efforts to make government more efficient
and enacting sturdier laws and regulations. While
much attention is focused on Dubai’s seven-star
hotels and new financial infrastructure, nurturing
human capital through education and healthcare is
a long-term strategy to enhance economic advantages.
“We are proud of our
past and our present, and we face the future with
unflagging determination. We have to make history
and approach the future with steady steps, not wait
for the future to come to us.”
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UAE PROJECT TEAM
Project Director: Helena Alvarez-Vieitez
Editorial Director: Adam Jones and Luca Bessero
Project Assistant: Leigh-Anne Hazard
