History of UAE
However, UAE traces its root a long way in terms of economic trade. The British played a crucial role in the early trading in the Arabian Peninsula, holding much of the exclusivity as a trading partner for many years. The Arab coasts served as a trading post for most goods traded. Nevertheless, the Persian Gulf served as the resource of the first widely traded product of UAE, which was pearl farming. During the 19th and 20th century, this economic activity gave employment and livelihood to the people. The Portuguese people would like to take over the lucrative trade however, the UAEs binding with the United Kingdom has been advantageous and gave the pearl trading a wider scope of market.
Maritime trade that time was very helpful to the economy. However, the emergence of artificial pearls in the 1920s and the Great Depression made a downturn to the industry (Anonymous, 2010). Dubai, as a crucial economic point in UAE, ventured to gold-smuggling after the downfall of the pearl trading. Being duty-free, traders were able to get gold without much restriction and were sold to other countries. Though not legal, it has sparked the boost economy for the Arabian territory.
The mix of high value products and UAEs ports facilitated trade well across the Peninsula. Economic success even more accelerated due to the discovery of oil in 1960s. According to Pam Stein, on her book on the oil trading in UAE, the place ranked seventh in terms of volume of oil reserves with 97.8 million barrels. Also, it ranks sixth on gas reserves with 214 trillion cubic feet (Stein, 2001). The proceeds of the earlier trade of pearl and gold were invested on making Dubai as a financial and economic stronghold, thus facilitated oil trading in the 1960s. It was more capacitated when the treaty with the British ended in the 1970s and the emirate states eventually become independent on their economic matters.
UAE invested in the 21st century on different techniques on oil and gas extraction. With this trade boom, the trading partners of the Emirates also expanded. The oil wealth of the Peninsula also entailed political issues. The 911 attacks sparked speculations that the Al-Qaeda benefits from the oil export of the Emirates. However, UAE cooperated with nations globally, that the economic benefits do not trickle down to terrorist operations and even helped track accounts in the economy which are doubtful. UAE supports the global war on terrorism.
Probably the notable success in UAEs economy is the evident development of key cities and overall economic status of the people. The proceeds from the economy were invested into social aspects like education and health. With this, more people in UAE were able to access basic necessities as compared before and now owns large educational and business units especially in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
As of the present, UAE is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) due to its rich reserves. However, what is positive is that UAE veers away from depending too much on these resources and focused on its tourism and other business potentials. In essence, oil and gas has been the driving force of this success, and it has opened more doors for economic opportunities in the UAE.