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Dubai
Economy
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Dubai's gross domestic product as
of 2006 was US$46 billion. Although Dubai's economy was built
on the back of the oil industry, revenues from oil and natural
gas currently account for less than 3% of the emirate's revenues.
It is estimated that Dubai produces 240,000 barrels of oil a
day and substantial quantities of gas from offshore fields.
The emirate's share in UAE's gas revenues is about 2%. Dubai's
oil reserves have diminished significantly and are expected
to be exhausted in 20 years.
Historically, Dubai and its twin across the Dubai creek, Deira
(independent of Dubai City at that time), became important ports
of call for Western manufacturers. Most of the new city's banking
and financial centres were headquartered in the port area. Dubai
maintained its importance as a trade route through the 1970s
and 1980s. The city of Dubai has a free trade in gold and until
the 1990s was the hub of a "brisk smuggling trade"
of gold ingots to India, where gold import was restricted. |
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Dubai is an important tourist destination
and its port, Jebel Ali, constructed in the 1970s, has the largest
man-made harbor in the world. Dubai is also increasingly developing
as a hub for service industries such as IT and finance, with
the establishment of a new Dubai International Financial Centre
(DIFC). The government has set up industry-specific free zones
throughout the city. Dubai Internet City, combined with Dubai
Media City as part of TECOM (Dubai Technology, Electronic Commerce
and Media Free Zone Authority) is one such enclave whose members
include IT firms such as EMC Corporation, Oracle Corporation,
Microsoft, and IBM, and media organisations such as MBC, CNN,
Reuters and AP.
The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) was established in March 2000 as a secondary market for trading securities and bonds, both local and foreign. As of Q4 2006, its trading volume stood at about 400 billion shares worth US$ 95 billion. The DFM had a market capitalization of about US$ 87 billion.
The government's decision to diversify from a trade-based but
oil-reliant economy to one that is service and tourism-oriented
has made real estate more valuable, resulting in the property
appreciation from 2004–2006. Large scale real estate development
projects, undertaken by firms such as Emaar Properties, have
led to the construction of some of the tallest skyscrapers in
the world such as the Emirates Towers, the Pentominium and the
world's tallest hotel, the Burj Al Arab. As of July 2007, Burj
Dubai -also being constructed by Emaar Properties- is already
the world's tallest structure and is expected to be taller by
several hundred feet, once construction is complete. |
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Recently, the Land Department set up the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) to regulate developers and safeguard consumers from errant parties. All developers are required to register with the RERA, provide documents and verifiable facts about their properties, and setup escrow accounts to protect consumers' money. KM Properties, a member of KM Holding, was the first company to register with the Land Department.
Organizations within Dubai have expressed an intention to invest
in medical tourism, including the Emaar group's plans in India.
Within Dubai, there is considerable interest in developing this
market, and the Dubai Healthcare City is scheduled to open by
2010. There will be a corresponding increasing need for attention
to quality and to quality control in healthcare within Dubai,
including international healthcare accreditation. |
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