Before oil the economy of the Emirates was the cultivation of pearls, considered the best quality in the world, divers sought preciousness throughout the length of the Gulf. But local industry faded after the First World War, when the Japanese developed the pearls of culture and won the world market.
The United Arab Emirates has an open economy with high GDP per capita and significant trade surpluses. The main economic activities are those involved with oil and oil products; fishing, aluminum, cement and fertilizers.