With two locally headquartered banks and a substantial number of institutions from elsewhere in the UAE and further afield, Ras Al Khaimah’s banking sector is very competitive. The National Bank of RAK (RAKBANK) and Commercial Bank International (CBI) have rolled out a handful of new products and services in recent years, focusing on small and...
To drive economic growth and stimulate industry development, Ras Al Khaimah has long pursued a strategy of promoting outside investment. Over the past 20 years, this has proved very successful, and the emirate has developed a fairly broad range of industries, led initially by cement and ceramics factories processing local limestone. The pace of...
Although the recent global economic downturn affected Ras Al Khaimah’s construction industry, the sector is moving forward and remains a key component of the emirate’s growing economy. While the recession has had an impact, industry players are taking steps to overcome many of these difficulties. Further, the focus on these challenges does not...
As the industrial sector has expanded over the past decade, demand for power and water in Ras Al Khaimah has grown exponentially. Consequently, in recent years RAK, like many of the other Northern Emirates, has experienced sporadic power outages and water shortages. This is an issue in the emirate, as it is home to a number of energy-intensive...
The establishment of free zones – dedicated areas where businesses are exempted from various laws and regulations – has been used in many countries to attract foreign investment, notably in the UAE. The federal system, with its largely decentralised economic decision-making, means that almost all emirates have set up free zones. Ras Al Khaimah is no...
In the Gulf, diversification is the name of the game. Directly or indirectly, the region derives most of its income from hydrocarbons. Given that these resources are finite, governments have long sought to reduce this dependency by promoting growth in non-oil sectors, such as manufacturing, tourism and banking, with varying degrees of success....
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