Evaluation of industrial development in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Abstract

Following the discovery of oil, the economic development process in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council adopted individually plans for industrial development to support the diversification in the economy. In 1998, the group has set a unified industrial development strategy with several common objectives, to achieve a proper exploitation of available natural resources other than oil and gas. This study will examine the situation of industrial development in the GCC countries at two different periods; before and after the adoption of the industrial strategy. This is to show signs of progress in the GCC in general and the differences among the countries. The study will evaluate the development in four main elements; share of the GDP, employment opportunities, local resources utilization and the regional development. The national, regional as well as international data will be used to describe the real situation and to analyze the progress during the studied period.

There are two types of industrial movements in societies; the first one is without state' orientation (always private) , while the second is the state plan orientation which is divided into three ownerships; private sector, public sector and mixed sector. In General, in the case of GCC countries the first movement is owned by local investors, while the second type might be owned by non-nationals.