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Arab investments in global markets, especially European and US markets, have grown lately, as a natural result of the increasing oil revenue and cash surplus in oil-producing countries.
These investments, estimated at $150 billion in 2007 and more than $50 billion this year so far, included many sectors, such as property, retail, banking, finance, industry and bonds.
Yet, there were no investments in the media sector, which is one of the most important modern sectors, and has been attracting huge investments in the past few years, and generating more revenues than other strategic sectors.
There is no doubt that the media sector is promising, with the current global economic leap named the stage of information technology and media.
This stage lays the foundation for digital economy, in which the service sector plays a major role.
Investment in media has not enjoyed the attention it deserves since the flow of Arab investments in foreign countries, which coincided with the influx of oil wealth in the early 1970's.
This happened despite the region's countries being in drastic need of this kind of investment, not only for its good financial revenue, but for strategic reasons as well.
In the past 50 years, the Western media continuously worked to tarnish the image of Arabs, motivated by political wishes stemming from the Arab-Israeli conflict.
From this point of view, the Arab man is only a barrel of oil, looking for the fulfillment of his whims and desires.
This stereotype started to change thanks to modern communication methods and the progress achieved by GCC countries, whether in their openness to the world or their development of modern, western-style cities.
The number of visitors to GCC countries increased a lot lately, and visitors now include Hollywood stars and sports champions, some of whom decided to make the UAE their permanent home to enjoy the atmosphere and the high-class services offered.
Big opportunity
If GCC countries did not pay attention to the importance of investing in media in the past three decades, they still have a big opportunity now, due to many factors.
First, the current technical and media leap in the world is unprecedented, and investment in this field is one of the most important forms of investment at this age.
Second, the region's countries have a cash surplus of over $3 trillion, which may reach $5 trillion within five years. This gives them a chance to take over important western media establishments.
Third, the western economy is suffering from recession, especially in the US, which is affecting most sectors. As a result, well-established media institutes can be acquired at reasonable prices.
The region's countries invested a lot in local media in the past decade, but this investment took the shape of almost-identical local satellite TV channels, while other media, such as printed media, is trying to keep up with the technological development.
Apart from public sector investments, the private sector can acquire big foreign media establishments instead of only investing in local media, which is trying to duplicate foreign programmes at exorbitant costs, due to intellectual property rights.
The acquisition of international media establishments through investment will allow the local media to gain experience and learn while achieving good financial results.
The other advantage is the chance to show the world the region's issues objectively.
The writer is a UAE economic expert.
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