United Arab Emirates

Country Overview

The United Arab Emirates was founded in the 1972 and is a federation of seven monarchies: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Qaiwain. Since the discovery of oil in the UAE more than 30 years ago, the UAE has undergone a profound transformation from an impoverished region of small desert principalities to a modern state with a high standard of living. In the last decades many efforts had been taken to diversify the economy from oil into advanced sectors like finance, commerce, transportation and tourism. In Dubai it was created a free trade zone that offers opportunities for 100% foreign ownership with zero taxation. However, hydrocarbons still account for roughly 80% of total government revenues. In 2008–2009, the UAE was hit hard by falling oil prices, the collapse of a real estate bubble, and the global banking crisis, but the economy has slowly rebounded. Today the 5.3 millions citizens growth at a yearly rate of 3% (the world's 10th) and benefit from a pro capita income of US$ 48.000, one of world's highest.

The country economy is one of the faster growing in the world, thanks to a growing level of economic freedom, a stable inflation rate (at 2.5% this year) and a low public debt (in 2011, 42% of GDP). In the 2011 the GDP was 5%.