Page 82 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)
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fashions and accessories, and high-end automobiles. Services for
the wealthy such as private banking and asset management are also
areas of focus for domestic and international companies seeking to
benefit from the region’s prosperity.
As important as the GCC’s absolute wealth is the remarkable
economic growth it is experiencing. In the five-year period between
2001 and 2006, the GCC’s combined real GDP has grown at an
annualized rate of 6.5 percent—almost three times the rate of the
most developed OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development) markets. Figure 3.2 compares growth rates
across regions.
Figure 3.2 GCC economies have grown much faster than world and core
OECD averages (Source: EIU, CIA World Factbook, 2006; “Core OECD”
excludes Czech Republic, Hungary, Mexico, Poland, Slovakia, and
Turkey.)
