The Arab Countries of the Persian Gulf as “New Donors” in the World Economy

This article deals with the peculiarities and aspects of foreign aid by Arab countries of the Gulf (Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC members)). Relatively recently, almost all the countries that are members of the integration association GCC were countries with extremely backward consumer economy. But with the discovery of the richest oil deposits, this region has become the main oil-bearing region of the world. During the so-called “oil boom”, the economy of the Arab countries of the Gulf was at the initial stage of development and was not able to invest the growing revenues from oil rents in national projects, so free financial resources were used to create development funds and provide assistance. Now two countries – Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – are among the top 20 donor-states in terms of funding, are very influential participants in international development assistance processes and play a leading role in international humanitarian activities. The directions and geography of assistance are quite extensive and diverse, and the amount of funds allocated is solid. For these States, humanitarian assistance is a priority direction of foreign policy and contributes to increasing prestige in the international arena in order to ensure national interests.

GCC, Saudi Arabia, UAE, foreign aid, international development assistance