Page 418 - UAE Truncal States

The Formation of the Federation

levels; il was lo provide for the future when the oil and gas reserves
have dwindled. Thus the industrialised nations' construction com­
panies and industrial enterprises descended on the UAE as they did
on neighbouring oil-producing countries. They set out lo create
industry while capital is available which, it is hoped, will provide
products for local and foreign markets, a secure source of income in
the future, and a hedge against unemployment.
However, almost as quickly as this philosophy, which hails from
situations where at least the indigenous labour force and the local
markets are large, spread in the majlis, in government departments
and local entrepreneurs’ offices, the dissimilarities with other
societies in respect to industrialisation were realised by a growing
number of influential people. For the seven Emirates constitute a
sufficiently large market for only a very limited range of industrial
goods. Even where the market is adequate or export is possible, the
need to import almost all raw materials other than energy, makes
many ventures economically less interesting. Yet a number of
industries, in particular those associated with the oil and building
industries, and those which feed the growing population are
economically viable. More industrial ventures, both public and
private, are still being established, but Dubai and Abu Dhabi have
more recently shown restraint in the development of their show­
pieces at Jabal ’Ali and Ruwais.154 After the wave of economic
expansion following the dramatic oil price rises of 1973/4, the initial
enthusiasm for industrialisation gradually gave way to a cooler
analysis, and evaluation and examination of these two gigantic plans
helped to bring into focus the issues involved in industrialisation.
It became abundantly clear that there was one vital constraint on
large-scale industrialisation in the UAE: the lack of human re­
sources. For several years people, experts and unskilled labourers
alike, were brought from outside just like any other commodity that
was not available locally but could be bought for money. The notion
was that when the work was done and the salary paid these people
would all go back to where they came from. It has since become clear
that not all the immigrants want to return home; some are refugees,
others come from countries where unemployment is high, and in
many cases they are much better paid than at home. Above all the
government and the private sectors in all seven Emirates, par­
ticularly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, have introduced public and
private services which will never be able to dispense with the
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