A glimpse of the future of oil producing Arab countries

[Mikhayl]

The uncomfortable truth for Abu Dhabi is that one day the oil will run out. Although in the emirate’s case that is predicted to be more than 90 years away, there is always the prospect that the world economy’s thirst for it will be slaked sooner by clean technology.
That this is a motivating factor in the minds of the Abu Dhabi royal family can be seen in its investment in alternative energy. Two years ago it launched the $250m Masdar Initiative which is pouring money into solar and other clean energy sources. Outside Abu Dhabi City, ground has been broken on a carbon-free eco-city for 50,000 people which has been designed by Norman Foster, the British architect.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle4692422.ece

[Happy Times]

The uncomfortable truth for Abu Dhabi is that one day the oil will run out.

Yeah, they will have to work for a living.

[Mikhayl]

Originally Posted by Happy Times

Yeah, they will have to work for a living.

LOL, was it too long an article to read it ? :rotfl:

[Happy Times]

Originally Posted by Mikhayl

LOL, was it too long an article to read it ? :rotfl:

You know that most of the population doesnt really work, atleast as we understand it?
They build airports, skyscrapers and buy football clubs. I wouldnt bet on those countries a lot, seems they wont either.

[Mikhayl]

You know that it would be a good thing to at least bother reading the article before throwing mistakes or understatements

[Happy Times]

Originally Posted by Mikhayl

You know that it would be a good thing to at least bother reading the article before throwing mistakes or understatements

You meen im to belive they are all to become managers of airlines, banks and hotels?
Get real.

[Mikhayl]

What are you talking about ?

[Happy Times]

Originally Posted by Mikhayl

What are you talking about ?

That without oil they would still live in straw huts.
What are you?

[Happy Times]

From the horses mouth.

Gulf States Warned of ‘Asian Tsunami’
Arab News

JEDDAH, 28 January 2008 — Bahrain’s Labor Minister Majed Al-Alawi has warned of an impending “Asian tsunami” in the Gulf states because of the heavy dependence on foreign workers.

In an interview published in Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper yesterday, Al-Alawi said the presence of almost 17 million foreign workers in the Gulf, mostly from the Indian Subcontinent, represented “a danger worse than the atomic bomb.”

“I am not exaggerating that their number will reach almost 30 million in 10 years from now,” he told the Arabic daily.

Alawi said that Gulf nationals were “lazy” and “spoilt”, relying on foreign workers for the simplest of tasks.

“A lord with billions in Great Britain cleans his own car, whereas people of the Gulf look for someone to hand them a glass of water from just a couple of meters away. If the governments do not watch out for this tsunami of foreigners, the fate of this region is very worrying,” he said.

Alawi has called for the residency of foreign workers to be limited to six years but the leadership of the Gulf Cooperation Council has not followed up on the proposal. “The commercial lobby thwarted the project which was in the final phases before being implemented,” he said.

Alawi called for the “sponsorship” system to be abandoned, saying it left foreign workers at the mercy of the individuals or institutions which employ them. He called for governments to oversee visas and work permits to protect the rights of foreign workers, in a region which human rights organizations have often accused of abusing employees in slave-like conditions.


http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&sect...=28&m=1&y=2008

Originally Posted by Happy Times

That without oil they would still live in straw huts.
What are you?

So? If America or Europe was a desert like Africa we would also be living in straw huts. The wealth of the world is distributed the way it is mainly because of the resources that are available in different regions. Are you implying that we are superior in some way? We also have the wealth that we have because of the resources that we have available. All I see from you is bitterness about how they can work less than us. There are people in the world who work harder for less than you.

[August]

Technically desert dwellers rarely live in straw huts. I believe they tend to favor fancy multi room tents or adobe buildings.

[Happy Times]

Originally Posted by August

Technically desert dwellers rarely live in straw huts. I believe they tend to favor fancy multi room tents or adobe buildings.

I was just referring to the article.

UNTIL the middle of the 20th century, the economy of Abu Dhabi was sustained by camel herding, growing dates and vegetables, fishing and pearl diving. Poverty was widespread. Most of the population lived in homes constructed from palm trees; the wealthy lived in mud huts.

[Happy Times]

So? If America or Europe was a desert like Africa we would also be living in straw huts. The wealth of the world is distributed the way it is mainly because of the resources that are available in different regions.

Thats total BS, look at the map, its only a part.

Are you implying that we are superior in some way? We also have the wealth that we have because of the resources that we have available.

I dont care what you call it. But if you dont see the positive effects of Western culture and civilisation on increasing wealth you are blind.

All I see from you is bitterness about how they can work less than us.

Its not bitterness, i just see the coming irony. Do you think its cool that they pride in not doing anything? What an inspirational culture and way of life.

There are people in the world who work harder for less than you.

I know, like the slaves doing the work for these guys. That was kinda my point. Duh!

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by Kraut

So? If America or Europe was a desert like Africa we would also be living in straw huts. The wealth of the world is distributed the way it is mainly because of the resources that are available in different regions.

Hong Kong, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, Lichtenstein, Andorra, Belgium etc.... All rich, all comparitively resource-poor. Economic freedom, trade and social stability have much more to do with prosperity than resources.

Are you implying that we are superior in some way? We also have the wealth that we have because of the resources that we have available.

But Russia, which has more resources, remains poor. Thinking like that is what makes liberals so dangerous to the economy.

[Mikhayl]

What's funny is that it gets derailed by someone who didn't even bother reading past the quoted bit before reacting. The article is precisely about Abu Dhabi knowing perfectly that oil will run out eventually, and gives some clues about their economic and investments policy for the future to precisely overcome their need of natural resources to make money in some interesting ways.
But it's so much funnier to just keep it at "without oil they will get back to stone age !" indeed