The UAE is the second-largest Arab economy and the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter. From its inception UAE has worked towards building their accumulation of external financial assets, with Abu Dhabi taking the lead on managing the country’s oil wealth and Dubai’s push for economic diversification. The UAE government is in the form of a monarchy with the president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa as the chief of state. The rulers of each of the seven emirates belong to Al Nahyan clan of Abu Dhabi and the Al Maktoum clan of Dubai. Each ruler serves as a member of the Supreme Council and supports the current president. Among the emirates, Abu Dhabi has in the recent years accelerated in reform mainly due to the efforts of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. The most enigmatic ruler has been Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, ruler of Dubai who took a pro-business approach to the administration of the emirate and to policymaking in general resulting in the strength and growth of Dubai’s economy.
UAE is one of the most open economies in the Middle East and has been a member of the World Trade Organization since 1995 and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) since 1981. UAE participates in a wide range of GCC activities that include economic issues, development of common policies covering trade, investment, banking and financing, and transportation. Currently the GCC countries are negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU and the UAE continuing with its strengthening of its economic plans is negotiating an FTA with the United States.
According to the Minister of Economy H.E. Sultan Al Mansouri, the UAE GDP for 2007 is at 6.3% increasing by 7.4% from last year’s figures. It has been approximated that the non-oil sectors have contributed towards 64. ...