Fujairah Pays for Fighter Jets with Fish

Select Property has this report on a fair Fujairah/French exchange:

“The chief executive of the United Arab Emirates Offset Program Bureau helps pair foreign defence contractors with local companies, with the goal of boosting the UAE's exports. The bureau has been pairing up multinational corporations with local companies since its inception in 1992.”

“The United Arab Emirate’s first fish farming business, Asmak, was conceived under the offset programme as part of a deal with Dassault, the French aerospace giant, to supply the Air Force with Mirage combat jets. Asmak exports sea bream to 15 countries around the world from its bases in Fujairah and Ras al Khaimah.”

“Offsets allow countries to recoup part of the costs of defence purchases, by requiring foreign contractors to contribute in some way to the purchasers’ economy. Often they help set up new companies through specialised training and a transfer of technology, with a requirement that the new company’s revenues over a seven-year period must equal 60 per cent of the value of the contract.”

“Overall, some 50 companies have been set up with the help of foreign defence contractors, and Dh8 billion has been channelled into the UAE economy as foreign direct investment. Most of the companies are valuable contributors to the UAE economy.”

No details reported on how many bream are sold to pay for a Mirage fighter jet.

Source: ‘Fish and Fighter Jets Pair up in the UAE’, Select Property (original report and link removed)

Dr. Geoff Pound

Image: Sea bream; Mirage jets.