The Politically Incorrect Guide to Dubai and the GCC

Impressed by Dubai’s, “if we build it they will come” attitude, other GCC countries began following Dubai’s business model.

When locals message each other from their smartphones, it is not unusual to see Kuwait shortened to “Q8”

but in the UAE it is called a candora

All GCC economies are heavily reliant on government spending. Even if new taxes are imposed, the private sector might not be able to carry as big a load as is expected. But the number one problem with instituting taxes is that when governments do this, the people and companies paying them demand more say in the running of the country. The ruling families in the region will likely find this out sooner rather than later.

UAE should be able to weather low oil prices well in the short and mid-term. The tourism sector is growing, foreign companies have had a strong presence there for years, and startups are moving to Dubai. Emirates Airlines is world-renowned, and Dubai International Airport has become an important transit point between Asia and Europe, and for travelers who fly regularly to India and Africa. But even though the UAE is well-positioned, the government started lifting subsidies that it could no longer afford to maintain. The subsidy for petrol was lifted in 2015, and a VAT tax of 5% will be implemented most likely in 2018.

it is unlikely that high prices will be sustained for years like in the past.

only the United Arab Emirates was successful at diversification, and even that country is heavily reliant on moderately high oil prices to balance its budget and continue to pay for subsidies. Like in Western countries, public sector workers, mostly citizens, receive high salaries that they have become accustomed to. Over 80% of Emiratis work in the public sector, even though there has been a strong push by the government for Emiratisation of the private sector. In Saudi Arabia it’s about the same, with 70% of the local population employed by the government.

Religions:

Muslim (Islam; official) 76%, Christian 9%, other (primarily Hindu and Buddhist around 15%, and less than 5% of the population consists of Parsi, Baha’i, Druze, Sikh, Ahmadi, Ismaili, Dawoodi Bohra Muslim, and Jewish). There is rumored to be a synagogue in Dubai in the Deira area and French expats claim to have been inside. According to them it is a plain building that you would never guess was a temple, at least not from the outside.

Languages:

Arabic (official), English, Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Tagalog, Farsi.

Ethnic Makeup of the Population:

Emirati 19%, other Arab and Iranian 23%, South Asian 50%, other expatriates (includes Westerners and East Asians) 8%. 85% of the population are expats.