The Dubai School of Government (DSG), a research and teaching institution, and the Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies recently held a conference on the risks and policy faced by countries rich on natural resources.

Held from December 9 to 10 at the Dubai School of Government premises, the conference drew numerous industry experts, researchers, policymakers and industry leaders from around the world.

Abdulrahman Al Saleh, director-general of Department of Finance, Dubai, said: “In this environment, the need for credible steps to restore the health of the financial system and business is crucial. In the UAE, the government has provided substantial support to the financial institutions and the market.”

The first day of the conference focused on select academic papers on the relationship between natural resources and economic performance, macro-economic stability, institutional quality, and general wellbeing of the citizens.

Dr Tarik Yousef, dean of Dubai School of Government, said: “The conference served as a platform for policy makers to analyze the economic development of resource-rich counties as well as the risks and policy challenges that they face now and in the future. It is in our best interest to establish policies that will ensure sustainable growth and promote collaboration among countries through policies and integrative economic and fiscal enterprise.”

“Liberally endowed natural resourced have allowed many countries in the region to transform the hydrocarbon reserves into productive assets while diversifying their economies. It is of great importance for all counties to utilize their resources in a most efficient manner while ensuring the political, environmental, and economic policies go hand in hand with the development,” he added.

The second day of the conference focused on the policy issues for resource-rich economies in the GCC including regional integration, economic diversification strategies in resource rich counties, fiscal policy response of oil producing countries to the recent oil price levels, transforming oil wealth into productive assets and impact of climate change policy on fossil fuel investment and on the GCC economies.

Dr Tony Venables, director of Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies (OxCarre), said: “Despite the resource-rich assets, countries in the GCC region are facing numerous policy and economic challenges.”

“Our prerogative during the conference was to discuss these challenges and set a roadmap for overcoming such challenges and propose sustainable policies for the future to help build an integrated economic, environmental and fiscal directive,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service