It stands almost 3 thousand feet in the air, and cost the city more than 1 billion dollars.

它聳立於 3000 英呎的高空，耗資超過 10 億美金打造

On the ground signs of Dubai’s wealth are apparent, as the police patrol the streets

從員警巡邏時駕駛著法拉利及藍寶堅尼來看，杜拜在地面上的財富也是顯而易見的。

in Ferraris, and Lamborghinis. So how did the Emirates, and Dubai in particular, get

所以，阿拉伯聯合大公國，尤其是杜拜，到底是怎麼

so rich?

變得如此富有？

Well, the UAE is a federation of seven emirates, each ruled, in part, by its own Islamic monarchy.

阿拉伯聯合大公國由七個酋長國組成，每個酋長國有一部分由自己的伊斯蘭君主統治

Historically the UAE has been a prime location for international trade. Situated at the mouth

歷史上阿拉伯聯合大公國一直是國際貿易的主要地點，位於

of the Persian Gulf, ships sailing around Asia and Africa made frequent stops there.

波斯灣口，航行於亞州及非洲的船隻經常於此處停泊

In the late 1950s, large oil deposits were found near the UAE’s capital of Abu Dhabi,

1950 年代後期，阿拉伯聯合大公國的首都阿布達比發現了大量的石油

beginning a hugely lucrative oil industry. The oil deposits proved to be so vast, that

於是開啟了利潤豐厚的石油產業。 石油蘊藏量豐富，

presently, they account for a tenth of the world’s total oil reserves. Crude oil exports

占了現今全球蘊藏量的十分之一。

are responsible for almost $400 billion dollars of the UAE’s GDP.

原油出口金額占了阿拉伯聯合大公國約 4000 億美元的國內生產總值

But Dubai, by itself, isn’t very oil-rich. Reports indicate that in 2010, only around

然而杜拜本身的石油資源並不豐富。報告指出，2010 年僅有

1% of Dubai’s economy was from oil sales. So how is Dubai so wealthy?

百分之一的經濟源自於石油銷售。所以，杜拜為什麼如此富裕呢？

Well, both Dubai and the entire UAE have a historically productive relationship with

歷史上，杜拜及整個阿拉伯聯合大公國與英國有著良好的關係

the United Kingdom. This relationship granted them access to exclusive western investments

這層關係使得它們可以取得獨家的投資及合作機會

and partnerships . In 2000, the international credit boom helped the Emirates solidify their

2000 年，國際信貸的發展下幫助了阿拉伯聯合大公國鞏固

place in the Middle East as a financial and cosmopolitan hub. Foreign investments poured

在中東的經濟及國際化地位。國外投資蜂湧而至，

in for ambitious projects like the world’s tallest skyscraper, largest resort, and even

投資於世界上最高的摩天大樓、最大的度假村甚至是

a series of man-made islands. Since then, tourism, trade, and retail has flourished,

一系列的人造島嶼等等，從那時候起，觀光、貿易及零售業蓬勃發展

attracting a large number of visitors and immigrants. Dubai was reported to be the world’s

吸引著一大批的觀光客及移民。杜拜因此在 2014 年被評為世界上

5th most popular tourist destination in 2014. Additionally,there are no corporate taxes,

第五位最受歡迎的觀光勝地。 此外，石油公司及外國銀行以外的公司

except on oil companies and foreign banks, making them an attractive business destination.

不需繳交公司稅，也使杜拜成為一個吸睛的商業勝地。

However, despite the flow of investments and a growing tourism industry, the late 2000s

然而，儘管有大批投資潮及蓬勃發展的觀光業，2000 年後期的

global economic crisis hit the emirates especially hard. Real estate prices collapsed throughout

全球經濟危機也重重的打擊了阿拉伯聯合大公國。整個區域的房地產價格崩落，

the area, and one study found that more than 200 construction projects were cancelled between

一份研究指出，2009 至 2011 年間，有多達 200 件以上的建案被取消

2009 and 2011. It got so bad that eventually, Abu Dhabi had to bail out Dubai with a $10

情況變得很糟，最終，阿布達比以 100 億美元的貸款來援助杜拜

billion dollar loan. So yeah, Dubai is massively rich, but as we’ve seen in recent years,

所以，杜拜是很富有沒錯，但就這幾年觀察下來

there’s no guarantee it’ll stay that way.

不保証它會一直富有下去

Migrant labor abuse is a huge problem in the UAE and some of its neighbors. To learn about

對阿拉伯聯合大公國以及其他鄰國來說，移工虐待是一個很大的問題

the details of this issue, take a look at this informative video from our friends at

想了解這個議題的更多細節，請參考我們的朋友在 AJ+ 提供的詳細資訊影片

AJ+. Thanks for watching TestTube, don’t forget to subscribe for all of our latest.

感謝您收看 TestTube，別忘了訂閱我們以獲得更多最新消息