UAE is inheritor of diverse history, culture

'No wonder visitors to the country have used various words ranging from 'awe-inspiring' to the 'world's fastest growing tourist destination' to describe it. Whichever word one chooses, certain features stand the country out', OPEC's bulletin added in its country profile.

OPEC's comments on the UAE came as the Arab country prepares to play host of the upcoming 146th (Extraordinary) Meeting of the OPEC Conference on December 5, 2007 in the Capital City of Abu Dhabi.

While the UAE is a country rich in oil, it has diversified its economic activities and attracted direct foreign investments, making the country less dependent on petroleum and natural gas.

This economic diversification, it added, has been most visible in the frenzied construction projects, valued at more than $350 billion going on in some of the Emirates.

The publication paid tribute to the UAE founding father, the late Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who 'brought his vision to bear on the UAE and is credited with transforming the country into the formidable and modern country it is today.

With the new-found oil wealth in the early 1960s, Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi since 1969, embarked on the construction of schools, houses, hospitals and roads.

The same transformation was apparent in the Emirate of Dubai.

'Shaikh Khalifa has continued to lead with the vision and openness of his late father, ensuring that both the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the UAE, continue to thrive along the path of development envisioned by his father'.

Elaborating on the economic success of the UAE, the bulletin said all the Emirates have recorded varying degrees of economic success.

Citizens of the UAE, like their leaders, are a forward-looking people, OPEC's bulletin said.

'They are also amazingly accommodating, which explains why there are more people from other ethnic nationalities and countries living in the UAE than Emiratis themselves, who constitute just about 21 per cent of the country's 4.76 million population.

'While Islam is the national religion, as a country enjoying high multicultural diversity, adherents of other religions also freely practice their faith', noted the OPEC's bulletin.

The UAE, according to OPEC, is ranked 41 in the UN Human Development Index.

The OPEC's bulliten said with maternal mortality at 0.01 for every 1,000 births, an under-five mortality rate of eight per 1,000, and a GDP per capita of about 75 per cent, the country is indeed a nation with a very high standard of living and one of the most developed countries in the world, remarked OPEC's bulletin.