The total gross domestic product of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is expected to exceed $13 trillion by 2050 if the region introduces the widely discussed green growth economic strategies, a top World Bank official said.
Issam Abu Suleiman, Regional Director of the GCC at the World Bank pointed out that the combined GDP of the region will be $6 trillion if they continue to operate without implementing a green economic growth strategy. “If they (GCC countries) continue business as usual, what they have done for the last three or four decades, and growing approximately at an average of 4 percent, the combined economy of the GCC will be $6 trillion. If they go into a green growth strategy that will improve their productivity, then they will go above $13 trillion,” Abu Suleiman said in an interview with UAE’s WAM.
“Embracing a green growth strategy will help create more jobs, reduce the gender gap, and ultimately result in the diversification of the economy,” he noted.
Last year, the combined GCC economy was valued at $2 trillion.
“The green growth strategy is an important strategy that can benefit diversification (strategies). If they go into a green growth strategy, they can use more of the technology that is available there, and by doing that they will increase their productivity,” Suleiman added.
