The Report: Sharjah 2017

Book excerpt: Possessing limited oil and gas resources by regional standards, the emirate of Sharjah has worked hard to develop a more thoroughly diversified economic profile in order to drive growth. Efforts have evidently paid off, with its GDP increasing by more than 32% between 2010 and 2015, fuelled largely by its strong manufacturing and logistics industries. Another major growth area is financial services, which accounted for 10.3% of GDP in 2015 having grown by an average of 12.7% per year over the past half-decade. The UAE’s third-largest economy after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Sharjah has also established itself as a leading centre of higher education in the region with its sprawling University City and the 1997 founding of two of the UAE’s most prestigious higher education institutions, the University of Sharjah and the American University of Sharjah. Another economic engine is tourism, as Sharjah is a key regional destination for family-oriented and cultural visits, attracting large numbers of arrivals from the Gulf, Europe and Asia.