UAE diversifies economy to offset oil price decline

DUBAI, Nov. 9 (BSS/Xinhua): The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be able to tackle the fall in oil prices as the Gulf Arab state moves forward to diversify its economy away from oil further, said the UAE minister of economy and foreign trade Sultan al-Mansoori here yesterday.
Speaking at the opening press conference of the 7th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) summit of the global agenda which will run from Nov. 9 to Nov. 11, Al-Mansoori said the UAE managed to reduce the share of the "black gold" to lower than 30 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
"Regarding the recent decline in oil prices, the UAE is not that affected like other countries around us," said Sultan Al- Mansoori. Other countries would be much more affected. The minister added that the UAE was "not in a critical situation, simply because we have taken our measures making sure we would not hit by trouble because of oil."