The east coast of the United Arab Emirates: an evaluation of economic activities and future prospects

Abstract

The United Arab Emirates with its coastal land from the western borders with the state of Qatar and the Saudi Arabia to the Omani borders in the east has many economic activities which the recent studies have not covered. The UAE has two coasts the western and the eastern. The coastal area of the western coast has rich oil deposits, whilst the area on the eastern coast has no oil deposits. This has led the inhabitants at the eastern coast to develop other alternatives. Fishing and farming became the main economic activities for the inhabitants of this coast, especially during the pre-oil period. Also, since the East Coast does not have the oil deposits, some of the people of the East Coast prefer to work in other oil rich Emirates, especially Abu Dhabi and Dubai. At the same time the oil wealth from the other Emirates has played major role in developing the East Coast in terms of financing the construction of the new facilities, seaports, airport and the other facilities. As a result of the latest government attention paid to the East Coast in terms of building new facilities as well as exploiting natural resources derived from the Hajar mountains, a lot of new manufacturing, eg rockwool, has come to play a major role in the area. The government of the area is in the process of exploring the geostrategic location of the East Coast with a view to it playing an important role in the future shipping industry in the area. The study evaluates the economic activities during the pre- and post-oil eras and gives a comparison between the two periods as well as exploring future prospects to develop these activities. It examined some of the area's problems as a result of the new development and future alternatives to be developed. It also evaluates and explores the importance of the area's geostrategic location in terms of future industry, e.g. export and re-export industry.