UAE moves to develop mining law
Al Mazroui says country welcomes suggestions on best practice, ideal regulatory framework
“We have noticed that the majority of commodity markets have stabilised... but the advantage of such times is to allow us to consolidate, and to allow us to be smarter and... cut costs, [as well as] to try to be an investment destination,” Al Mazroui said.
Unified regional push
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have been trying to align on the laws needed to incentivise investors and ensure that the industry thrives, even when markets stay down.
The minister said the UAE has also been aggressively pursuing the development of the non-oil economy.
“We have managed to minimise the dependence on oil to around 25 per cent,” Al Mazroui said.
“[While] we are blessed with oil as the main source of income, we went from being fully dependent on it to enabling new industries in the UAE — non-oil related industries.”
The UAE’s non-oil trade has been on a growth trajectory, A technical committee comprised of both Opec and nonOpec members will meet on Friday and Saturday, allowing for discussions and a clearer picture on output scenarios.
Opec and non-Opec members decided to cut their production to 32.5-33 million barrels per day, but Iraq has requested that it be exempted from the planned cuts owing to the ongoing conflict with Daesh (the selfproclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).
“The technical committee will meet on October 28-29, based on discussions in Alegria. This would be the first meeting,” Engineer Ahmad Mohammad Al Kaabi, assistant undersecretary for Petroluem Gas and Mineral Resources and the UAE’s Opec governor, told Gulf News on the sidelines of a mining industry conference. “There would be discussions between Opec and non-Opec members.” with non-oil trade reaching Dh535.7 billion in the first half of the year — up 3 per cent from the same period last year.
Al Mazroui urged other countries to exploit their mineral resources to improve their economic situations.