CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VI( 1)
( SABIC) adopted a strategic‘ China plan’. The Kingdom’ s economic strategy was intended to establish stronger and deeper economic partnership with China, as well as create joint ventures which can help Beijing to face its rapidly growing economic demands 32.
Three of the GCC states, including Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE( especially Dubai), while developing their economic plans for future are applying some basic elements of‘ East Asian model’. Moreover, in rigid competition with Qatar and Bahrain the UAE’ s Dubai became a regional financial center which is serving European and East Asian exchanges 33.
GCC states in global economy alongside‘ look east’ strategy
During the second oil-price boom in terms of level of capital outflows and inflows, the GCC as a regional organization and trading block became more integrated and globalized. Dubai developed into a regional financial center covering a broad area between European and East Asian exchanges, meanwhile‘ competing principles’ towards Dubai from Qatar and Bahrain are still actual 34.
During the period of 2002-2008 all the GCC states in their further development plans attempted to adopt, develop and implement some basic elements of‘ East Asian model’. For instance, Dubai showed its sympathy expressing interest especially Singapore’ s model of proactive leadership along with harmonious combination of state guidance with private sector initiative 35.
The GCC’ s internalization is becoming more and more evident and this regional organization is broadening its cooperative relations in terms of geographical scope. The multiplied relationships of the GCC constitute macro-trend initiatives which help the GCC states to upgrade their development model. An illustrative example is foodenergy security concept, and the interdependency regarding to this
32 Yetiv S. and Chunlong L., China, op. cit., pp. 207 – 208.
33
Cheng J., China’ s Relations op. cit., p. 45. 34 Ulrichsen K., Repositioning the GCC States, op. cit., p. 235.
35
Hvidt M., Planning for Development in the GCC States: A Content Analysis of Current Development Plans, Journal of Arabian Studies: Arabia, the Gulf, and the Red Sea 2( 2), 2012, 03 December 2012, p. 399. http:// dx. doi. org / 10.1080 / 21534764.2012.735454
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