Abu Dhabi has been purposeful in its plans to evade the resource curse putting the country on the right path of diversification, according to Etihad CEO.
“It has a clearly defined framework for economic diversification away from hydrocarbons and into metals, tourism, renewable energy, financial services and transport and logistics. This is its vision for 2030,” Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer, James Hogan, said.
“The Arabian Gulf is a consequential player in this new Asian paradigm. It now finds itself at a geographic crossroads, between the old world and the new. Its oil is literally fuelling the urbanisation of regional China and the South Asian Subcontinent,” he said.
Hogan, who delivered the inaugural Australia-Gulf Lecture at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney, touched on the major economic and societal changes in Asia and the Middle East and their impact on global aviation.
“And aviation is the absolute lifeblood of the UAE’s future economic prospects. Because of this, the Emirates and their airlines are deadly serious about success in this sector,” Hogan in his speech entitled “the shifting geopolitics of aviation” said.
Hogan also spoke of the UAE’s growing bilateral and trade relationship between Australia and the United Arab Emirates
“Australia, like Abu Dhabi, is blessed with natural resources that are essential for the growth and urbanisation of emerging markets,” he said. “And because of the UAE’s rise as a global transport hub, it is a valuable partner in the globalisation of the Australian economy. “
Hogan said that Etihad’s future network hub strategy would be built around the opportunities in provincial China, regional India and other under-served growth areas.
The airlines, he said, indeed those businesses that will survive and prosper in the face of seismic global change are those which reinvent themselves with this change in mind.