Page 418 - UAE Truncal States_Neat
P. 418

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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