UAE adopts 80 bln USD initiatives for post-oil era
Xinhua, November 22, 2015 Adjust font size:
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced on Saturday a series of new policies, including 100 national initiatives in various sectors worth over 300 billion dirham (81.80 billion U.S. dollars) , state news agency WAM reported.
The new policies cover the educational, health, energy, transportation, space and water sectors, which aim to build a "knowledge economy" in the UAE.
"The UAE is working towards establishing a solid future for the coming generations away from the fluctuation of the energy prices and markets," WAM quoted UAE President Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan as saying.
"The UAE has set its course for a post-oil world through investing in the fields of science and advanced technology," he added.
The UAE harbors seven percent of the world's known oil reserves. The black gold has a 29 percent of the country's gross domestic product, but the UAE Minister of Economy Sultan Al-Mansouri said last month that this share shall shrink to 19 percent within the next 10 years.
Persistent low oil prices will result in a 2.3 percent fiscal deficit for the UAE in 2015, marking the first deficit since 2009 for the country, the International Monetary Fund said, which forces the country to diversify its development strategy. Endit