.)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food

Imports - partners:
China 10%, India 9.8%, Japan 6.8%, Germany 6.5%, UK 6.2%, France
6.1%, US 6% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$18.64 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:
$5.9 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid - donor:
since its founding in 1971, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development has
given about $5.2 billion in aid to 56 countries (2004)

Currency (code):
Emirati dirham (AED)

Currency code:
AED

Exchange rates:
Emirati dirhams per US dollar - 3.6725 (2004), 3.6725 (2003),
3.6725 (2002), 3.6725 (2001), 3.6725 (2000)
note: officially pegged to the US dollar since February 2002

Fiscal year:
calendar year

Communications United Arab Emirates

Telephones - main lines in use:
1,135,800 (2003)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
2,972,300 (2003)

Telephone system:
general assessment: modern fiber-optic integrated services; digital
network with rapidly growing use of mobile cellular telephones; key
centers are Abu Dhabi and Dubai
domestic: microwave radio relay, fiber optic and coaxial cable
international: country code - 971; satellite earth stations - 3
Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat;
submarine cables to Qatar, Bahrain, India, and Pakistan;
tropospheric scatter to Bahrain; microwave radio relay to Saudi
Arabia

Radio broadcast stations:
AM 13, FM 8, shortwave 2 (2004)

Radios:
820,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations:
15 (2004)

Televisions:
310,000 (1997)

Internet country code:
.ae

Internet hosts:
56,283 (2004)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
1 (2000)

Internet users:
1,110,200 (2003)

Transportation United Arab Emirates

Highways:
total: 1,088 km
paved: 1,088 km (including 253 km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (1999 est.)

Pipelines:
condensate 469 km; gas 2,655 km; liquid petroleum gas 300 km; oil
2,936 km; oil/gas/water 5 km (2004)

Ports and harbors:
Al Fujayrah, Khawr Fakkan, Mina' Jabal 'Ali, Mina' Rashid, Mina'
Saqr, Mina' Zayid, Sharjan

Merchant marine:
total: 56 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 578,477 GRT/739,823 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 11, chemical tanker 5, container 6,
liquefied gas 1, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 21, roll
on/roll off 7
foreign-owned: 14 (Greece 2, Kuwait 6)
registered in other countries: 200 (2005)