There is no doubt that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries were completely dependent on oil and gas to build their wealth, as the largest exporter of oil in the world, however, what distinguishes the countries of the Arabian Peninsula is their success and excellence in exploiting their wealth to build a diversified economy within a strategy that works to dispense with oil by finding diverse sources of income.
These countries have successfully diversified the economy and even achieved advanced positions globally in several fields within record time.
The United Arab Emirates is considered an example of a successful diversified economy, in addition to the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which started with the same strategy and were able to achieve significant progress within a very short time.
The most important sources of diversified income in the GCC countries:
- Tourism:
The countries of the Arabian Peninsula have been able to achieve progress in the field of tourism, and this is clear from the increasing number of tourists in all the Gulf countries in general and in the UAE and Dubai in particular, which occupies a global position in the field of tourism.
- Attracting foreign investments:
The Gulf Cooperation Council countries have all the ingredients to attract investments, as they have everything necessary for that.
- Real estate:
The Gulf Cooperation Council countries were able to attract real estate investors through high-quality projects and competitive prices, making it a major real estate market in the region and the world.
The key to the economic diversification strategy:
Sovereign funds:
Through good exploitation of their wealth, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries were able to allocate a good share of the proceeds of their wealth to build their sovereign funds, which are considered the basis for the investments made by these countries in their giant projects in their country or around the world.
The countries of the Arabian Peninsula have the largest global sovereign funds, and the idea of the first sovereign fund in the world began in Kuwait in 1953.
The value of Gulf sovereign funds in 2023 reached more than three trillion dollars, for example, the value of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority reached $830 billion, which is the largest in the region, and third in the world, then the Kuwait Investment Authority with a value of $770 billion, and in third place is the Saudi Public Investment Authority. A fund worth $620 billion, then the Qatar Investment Authority worth $445. Billion dollars, and in fifth place is Dubai Investment Corporation. With a value of $300 billion, the situation in the United Arab Emirates is special, as each emirate has its own sovereign fund since it is a federal state.
The main goal of sovereign funds is to preserve part of the wealth for future generations. There is a racist saying about the Gulf Cooperation Council countries: The grandfather rode a camel, the son rode a Ferrari, and the grandson will ride a camel again, those should know that even the grandson will ride a Ferrari, a Lamborghini and so on, and the camel will remain a symbol of authenticity and heritage.