Dubai developed not because of hydrocarbons; oil and gas now account for less than two percent of Dubai’s GDP, around half of its share in the 1980s. Economic diversification, underpinned by remarkable performance across strategic sectors, contributed to 72.2% of the total economic growth achieved in 2017. Thus, Dubai is ranked 8th in the world for ‘Diversification of The Economy,’ ahead of developed economies like Switzerland, Japan, France and the United Kingdom.
Dubai has advanced service sectors today, each of which is a milestone for the economy in Dubai, including land, sea and marine transportation, warehousing, wholesale and retail trade, foreign trade, housing and foods. Dubai also has a manufacturing sector that keeps pace with the times and exports abroad, accounting for 9.4% of real GDP. This is due to the policies adopted by the UAE to promote growth of the national economy since its establishment in 1971. The monetary policy and the exchange rate regime adopted by the UAE Central Bank have been particularly effective in achieving economic stability and in enabling the local economy to keep pace with global economic changes.
In its preparations for the future, Dubai established institutions such as the ‘Dubai Future Foundation,’ which is working on future-focused initiatives. Last year, Dubai launched the ‘Dubai 10X’ initiative to apply what rest of the cities in the world will implement 10 years later. Dubai will also become the largest laboratory for future government experiences in the world, which will sustain Dubai’s competitiveness.
Recently, Dubai launched the Dubai Blockchain Strategy, making Dubai government the first in the world to conduct all transactions through this future network, thereby achieving a quantum leap in the efficiency of government transactions and all economic sectors.
Dubai accords top priority to innovation and seeks to turn into a global hub for innovation in varied areas of the economy, education and health, among others. Currently, Dubai is working on spreading the culture of excellence, creativity and innovation to be the philosophy that governs the work of national institutions by providing an atmosphere that encourages leadership and initiative at the regional and international levels in line with the Dubai 2021 Plan, which is dependent on various factors, including innovation to achieve sustainable development.
Dubai seeks to change its course always to keep pace with globalization and the technology revolution taking place in the world. The approach in the Dubai 2021 Plan is to achieve total factor productivity growth within an economic diversification framework that goes beyond traditional business models to transform the emirate into a knowledge-based economy.