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With its eye always on the long economic game, the Emirates seem to be hedging their bets when it comes to energy.
Kuwait and Saudi have more oil reserves and no country in the Gulf can touch Qatar for gas reserves. But the same way that the UAE saw a niche for a shipping hub, and then a financial hub, in the Middle East before anyone else, the country seems to be making sure it is going to remain a player in the energy market long after fossil fuels are nothing more than smoke in the wind.
The plan seems to be to start rebranding itself as a creator and exporter of technology, rather than a pumper of crude oil.
And if there is one thing that the UAE, led by Dubai, knows how to do, it is how to rebrand itself.
It has built itself a reputation as a transshipment hub, moving goods through the economic free zones and on to final destinations elsewhere in the world. By buying up ports around the world, Dubai Ports World built itself into an international power in the same class as Singapore and Hong Kong.
Once a pearling centre, the UAE now boasts two stock exchanges - the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and the Abu Dhabi Stock Market (ADSM) - which are recognised around the world. Just yesterday, someone in a rural Alaskan town told me they were thinking about adding DFM stock to their investment portfolio. Learning from its experience with transshipment, Dubai created economic free zones to encourage international businesses to set up shop. And they came.
Then came the red-hot property market. Almost every emirate boasts massive construction projects designed to draw in international investors and big-name retailers. The world's tallest building is slowly headed up, the world's largest mall is on the way, as is a giant snowdome to complement the existing indoor ski slope. Heck, even I learned to snowboard at Ski Dubai.
And while there are hitches along the way - think inflation, infrastructure problems and omnipresent construction sites that hang up already slow traffic - the general impression is of a nation focused on making sure that it has some long-term supports for its economy.
Now, energy is the focus.
The UAE used the recent World Energy Summit held in Abu Dhabi to push its new plans for Masdar City, which is supposed to have zero carbon impact. And the centrepiece of this project is the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, which the country is hoping will draw in top talent from around the world with top of the line research and development facilities, and space for both multinational companies and renewable energy startups.
And although the press coverage is swirling now, Masdar City is just one element of the $15 billion Masdar Initiative, which is managed by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company and is looking to develop everything from solar and wind power to sustainable development. And like most of the UAE's projects, Masdar is looking to move outside the nation's borders and into projects around the Arabian Gulf, the Middle East and around the world.
Already the $250 million Masdar Clean Technology Fund has invested most of its capital into developing solar power, water reuse and desalination - all efforts with an especially strong pull in the water-challenged and sunny Gulf. This may be a wake-up call for other countries in the Gulf who remain entirely focused on their limited reserves of fossil fuels. There seems to be little question that the UAE is the early economic adopter of the region and countries that have tried to follow in its footsteps have often waited a little to long to profit.
- The writer is a freelance journalist based in Alaska, USA.
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