UAE’s post-oil economic blueprint consists of single-digit tax, AI and even more trade – The National

UAE’s post-oil economic blueprint consists of single-digit tax, AI and even more trade – The National

“The richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least” — that is an old saying in Arabic, which holds true today in the UAE, where a transformation is under way to right-size the economy for a post-oil world.

By definition, the oil economy is about scarcity: our “black gold” is valuable because everyone needs it, not everyone has it, and the fear of it becoming harder to find — usually, because of a flare-up of Middle East instability — means a higher selling price and more petrodollars for us.

But, one day, because of technology’s relentless march forward, no one will need oil, or we might not have any more to sell; so, the challenge is what’s next?