The UAE will become increasingly focused on its economic reforms over the next year, with the economy playing an important role in its foreign policy and relations, according to Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE’s ambassador to the United States.
Speaking alongside retired general and former National Security Advisor H.R McMaster at an event organised by Stanford University’s Hoover Institution on Wednesday, Otaiba said the UAE is focused on moving the country’s economy forward.
“2021 is the year we started doubling down on our economy for the next six to 12 months. Anyone who pays attention to the UAE is going to see a series of reforms, changes, adjustments to the regulatory environment, the legal environment and the economic environment,” he said.
“Things are going to be really…adjusted or streamlined so that we can double down on the economy,” Al Otaiba added.
Over the last several weeks and months, the UAE has unveiled a number of initiatives aimed at boosting the country’s economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Operation 300bn, for example, seeks to increase the contribution of the UAE’s industrial sector to its GDP from $36.2 billion to $89.84 billion by 2031. Meanwhile, in Dubai, a new ‘creative economy strategy’ aims to more than double the number of creative companies in the emirate by 2025 and boost the number of ‘creators’ from 70,000 to 140,000.
“We have very ambitious targets and we’re willing to go the extra mile,” Al Otaiba said. “We really want to be seen as an economic hub for the region and to do what we can to use that economy to help us stabilize things.”
UAE ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba
“I’m incredibly focused here in Washington on how we can use our relationship with the United States and other friends to strengthen our economy and increase our GDP in the UAE,” he added.
Among those allies is India, with which Al Otaiba said the UAE maintains “strong ties”. More than 2 million Indian nationals live in the UAE, which is one of the country’s most important trading partners.
“It’s important to look at it completely holistically. It’s not just trade and economics. On climate change and energy security, we’re trying to find ways to work with them on all of these fronts,” he said. “We’ve really enhanced the relationship significantly over the last three or four years.”
Additionally, Al Otaiba said that the UAE does not want to be caught in between geopolitical tension and competition between the United States and China.
.jpg?NsWAiK8l)
We want to have a good relationship with China, mostly for economic reasons.
“With China, we see an economic and trade investment partner. Our overarching vision is [to] diversify away from oil and gas, become an economic hub and increase our GDP,” he added. “You can’t ignore the world’s second largest economy.”
The risk and challenge for the UAE, he said, is navigating a “Cold War” posture between the two.
“I think that’s not a good place for us to be. That’s not a good place for most countries,” Al Otaiba explained. “We want to be Singapore. We want to have a good relationship with China, mostly for economic reasons. We want a good relationship with the US for strategic reasons. Countries are going to get uncomfortable being put in a position where they have to choose.”
Follow us on
