Free zones and trade
Due to its location, Dubai was traditionally a convenient place for business to bridge the gap between East and West and it continued to be an important trade route in the 1970s and 1980s.
Dubai has a free trade in gold and until the 1990s was used as a base for smuggling gold ingots into India, [...]
A brief history of Dubai’s economy from the Gulf War to The Islands
The 1990 Gulf War had a huge impact on the city.
Initially, the banks of Dubai suffered a massive withdrawal of funds due to political uncertainty in the region, but as the 90s progressed many businesses, first from Kuwait, during the Gulf War, and later from Bahrain, during the Shia unrest, relocated to Dubai.
Dubai also provided [...]
A brief history of Dubai’s economy up to 1979
Dubai’s close proximity to India made it an important trading location and it was already known in Europe from the sixteenth century for its pearling industry, but it was in the nineteenth century when the emir lowered trade taxes to lure foreign traders from neighbouring states that Dubai really began to grow in prominence.
The early [...]
The 1990s to today
The Persian Gulf War of 1990 had a huge impact on the city.
First Dubai’s banks suffered a massive withdrawal of funds due to the uncertain political conditions, but later many foreign trading communities from the region relocated their businesses to Dubai. Dubai provided refuelling bases to allied forces at the Jebel Ali Free Zone [...]
Dubai and the UAE
On 2 December 1971 Dubai, Abu Dhabi and five other emirates formed the United Arab Emirates following Britain’s withdrawal from the Persian Gulf.
In 1973, Dubai and the other emirates adopted a common currency, the UAE dirham.
Dubai continued to grow from revenues generated by oil and trade, and the city saw an influx of [...]