•  
• Tweet
•  
•        Print
•  
•         Track Keywords
•  
• 

By Matthias Knab: This is part 2 of an article series after having spent most of last week in Dubai, where I was chairing a three-day executive conference with central bankers, bank CEO, CIOs, treasurers and other allocators. In a lose series of articles, I will share with you some of the insights gained at that conference.

Economists warn that despite an the increasing inflows of tantalizing amounts of Petrodollars (see the first part of this article series `An embarrassment of riches` ($30 trillion until 2030), the region faces downside risks which could be "sharp and irreversible". This article will be examining what they mean.

Challenges for the GCC going forward

1. The Demographics Challenge

The population in the GCC is expected to almost double by 2020 - from currently 36 million to 61 million (at current rates). This means a huge increase in "baby-boomers" (i.e. a population under age 20). In Saudi Arabia, for example, under 20s form 60% of the population. This growing segment of the population will need to be housed, fed, given health care, educated, skill-trained, motivated and then given jobs. This requires large investment in education, housing, health care and infrastructure. To develop sustainable economies, a competitive, efficient and modern business sector has to be created.

This includes a competitive and vigorous economic, industrial and fina......................

To view our full article Click here