United Arab Emirates at 40

ABU DHABI — Hundreds of thousands of Emiratis converged Friday in this city’s Zayed Sports City Stadium for the climax of celebrations marking the 40th year of founding of the United Arab Emirates. In the skies a quadragon of military jets formed the number “40,” and three military helicopters flew by, carrying flags of the UAE. Members of the Armed Forces paraded before Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE president, and other rulers and crown princes sitting on the stands. The festivities that followed included gymnasts and acrobats, paper camels that looked real, and the showing of films on the tower at the center of the stadium, traced the evolution of a desert to an amazing 21st century land of skyscrapers and megamalls and oil leaping out from the recesses of the earth, and portraits of Arab leaders who made the vision of a land of plenty come true. The drama ended with a blaze of lasers, clouds of streamers and the burst of fireworks. The spectacular two-hour extravaganza dramatically traced the journey of Emiratis through 40 years of hardship, determination, and commitment to achieve a status that is the wonder and envy of once seemingly infallible developed economies now on the verge of bankruptcy.

Sheikh Khalifa, in a speech delivered earlier before a throng of Emiratis, said the UAE’s stability “during a time of change in the Arab world proved the soundness of the nation’s founding principles — unity and respect for human dignity.”

The Abu Dhabi celebration was the most extravagant in the country, the other emirates marking in their own styles, their celebration of National Day. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the union of emirates, the six other emirates being Dubai, Sharjah, ra’s al-Khaiman, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain and Fujaairah.

Located in the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula, the seven emirates, formerly known as the “Trucial States,” had special relations with Great Britain for 150 years. With the collapse of their control over the Suez Canal, and depleting of resources after World War II, the British withdrew from the region in 1971. The rulers of the emirates, led by the UAE’s founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, formed a federation on December 2, 1971, to work together to bring prosperity and development to their people (now close to 8 million people). The UAE, has, since then emerged as one of the fastest-growing and most stable countries in the Middle East region.

Sheikh Zayed died in 2004, after over 30 years as president. The process of growth, however, has continued under the leadership of his son and successor President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum; their fellow members of the UAE Supreme Council of Rulers, and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan. An important part of the Emirate’s system of governance is the existence of the Federal National Council, which the late Emirates founder considered vital in his desire to consult with the country’s electorate.

Despite the vicissitudes of the global economy in recent years, the program of development in the UAE is still firmly underway. The development of the emirates, as told the throngs of media persons from 48 countries invited to the celebration, was recounted in newspapers (written in English) and broadcast media. This is, that development had been, and continues to be pursued according to four guidelines set forth by the late Sheikh Zayed.

 These guidelines are: 1) Sharing of the resources derived from Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas across the country in the development of its infrastructure; 2) Emphasis on making available access to education, health care and social services; 3) Although firmly committed to the Islamic faith of its citizens, the UAE has a tolerance for the many nationalities’ different faiths, resulting today in the presence of 40 churches and cathedrals as places of worship and 4) Promoting dialogue, cooperation and the resolution of conflicts, within the Arab world.

 We were driven around Abu Dhabi city to view the manifestations of progress and development. Skyscrapers and mega malls - designed obviously with the help of foreign-trained technocrats; a sprawling Zayed University offering courses in the sciences and humanities; a Formula 1 race track used only three days of the year; an art complex housing the Sheikh Zayed National Museum, and about to be finished Louvre and Guggenheim museums. We were shown miniature models of villas for the rich and famous in an island. We didn’t have time, nor were we invited, to step into hotels and bars and eating-places promoted in glossy publications as entertainment places for, again, the rich patrons.

We spent one morning in Dubai, about one and-a-half kilometers away from Abu Dhabi, breezing through what is flaunted as the biggest trade center in the world, including boutiques selling the most expensive brand names, and going up the Burj Tower, at 822-meters high, without question the tallest building in the world.

In both cities we saw the sheiks’ richly adorned palaces. We had an audience with Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarack Al Nahyan, minister of higher education and scientific research, and were treated to a feast of lamb and goat dishes and dates and other delicacies.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the more progressive and liberal of Islamic cities in the Arab world, allow the presence of Christian and other non-Islamic churches, and women wearing modern clothes. A Filipina working at Yas Viceroy Hotel said, “I go around in shorts, but not that short.” However, girls in the universities and those entering the mosques and attending public functions, wear the traditional costume and headdress. Women can drive cars, and work in offices. A recently passed Law No. 51 are designed to identify and arrest persons responsible for human trafficking. The good news announced at the celebration was the announcement that Sheikh Khalifa has approved the granting of citizenship to children born to Emirati women and foreign husbands.

The other emirates do not have the resources derived from oil and gas revenues, thriving only on commercial and tourism sectors for their own growth. Hence, according to a guideline set forth by the UAE founder, financial assistance is given these emirates, particularly to develop their water and electricity systems, and upgrading local health care services and housing for UAE citizens.        

 With the fourth largest oil reserves in the world with a production rate of around 2.5 million barrels a day, particularly in Abu Dhabi, UAE is one of the world’s largest producers of hydrocarbons. A large-scale investment program is underway to increase sustainable production capacity of both onshore and offshore oilfields in Abu Dhabi.

The success of long-standing program to diversify the sources of national income, however, has meant that oil and gas revenues now account for only about 30 per cent of the Gross National Product, despite relatively high oil prices. Tourism, a rapidly growing sector, now accounts for well over 10 per cent of GDP, with over 12 million visitors a year coming to the country, thereby stimulating continuous growth in the country’s national airlines, in particular Abu Dhabi’s Etihad, Duabi’s Emirates and FlyDubai and Sharjah’s Air Arabia.

The UAE’s journey to further development has not ended, and may have just begun. As promotional materials put it, “As the (country) enters into its fifth decade, it is confident of making further progress, both at home and on the world stage, in the years to come.”

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