Page 45 - Aamir Rehman Gulf Capital and Islamic Finance The Rise of the New Global Players

30 PART I Background and Context

FIGURE 1.2

GCC Economies Have Grown Much Faster than World and Core
OECD Averages

10%

9%

8%
Five-Year GDP CAGR, 2002–2006 6%
7%

5%

4%

3%

2%

1%

0%
China Kuwait UAE Qatar India GCC Bahrain Saudi Oman World Core
Arabia OECD

“Core OECD” excludes Czech Republic, Hungary, Mexico, Poland, Slovakia, and Turkey.

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit and CIA World Factbook, 2006.

Gulf’s pace: 2.3 percent. Kuwait, the UAE, and Qatar grew faster than
India, although China outpaced them all with an astonishing annual-
ized growth rate of 9.9 percent. 22
While this economic growth was fueled by natural resource
income, it has enabled economic development across a wide range of
industries. Major expansion in infrastructure, financial services,
tourism and hospitality, retail, heavy industry, and a whole host of
other sectors was achieved as wealth flowed into Gulf economies. GCC
states have actively pursued economic diversification strategies sup-
ported by government initiatives such as projects, the establishment of
government-linked companies, and deregulation through free zones
in key sectors like financial services. As discussed in Dubai & Co.,