Many oil-importing Arab economies could benefit from low oil prices during next year, positively impacting the development, stability and market movement, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashed Al-Maktoum predicted on Sunday.
He made the remarks to reporters while attending the Arab Strategy Forum (ASF 2014).
Sheikh Mohammad, also Ruler of Dubai, also expected that several development projects in the Gulf countries would be launched and strong economic partnerships with some countries, such as Egypt and Jordan, would be forged.
Expressing optimism over positive political indications emerging in the region in 2015 despite formidable challenges, Sheikh Mohammad elaborated that Egypt had strongly begun to regain its economic and political stability; the impact of which will be seen next year. "There are also many positive signals regarding Iran's nuclear file, whose the start of its closure could be in 2015," he pointed out.
As for the UAE, he said global transformations in 2015 will produce positive outcomes for the UAE, given its diversified and vibrant economic base, which benefits from international trade, strong confidence in the stability of the State and rich accumulated experiences in handling various events and changes.
"The UAE had earlier prepared itself to face many world economic scenarios and had devised its domestic and foreign policies so that they might respond and adapt to all social and technological changes, and even political changes, through diversification of its economy away from relying upon oil exports," he noted.
The UAE, he continued, had also built balanced relations with other world economic powerhouses, far from narrowed alliances, and established a transparent foreign policy that is based upon active cooperation with all countries to pursue its interests.
He concluded saying that a strong international alliance to counter terrorism indicated that a state such as Iraq could witness more stability.
Source: KUNA