DUBAI, Sep 18( TheNational): The UAE has been identified by the World Bank as one of the world’s most generous contributors to foreign aid.

In a report that looks at four decades of aid from the Arab world, the bank found that the region gave $272 billion in overseas development assistance between 1973 and 2008.

“Arab donors – predominantly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE – have been among the most generous in the world,” the report said. “There are good reasons to believe that Arab aid will continue to play an important role in international development assistance.”

The UAE was identified in the report, Arab Development Assistance – Four Decades of Cooperation, as the third-largest Arab source of foreign aid, after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Combined funding from the three countries accounts for 90 per cent of Arab development assistance.

The United Nations has set donor nations a target of 0.7 per cent of their gross national income (GNI) to contribute to developing countries, but worldwide few countries reach that amount. The 83-page report found that from 1973 to 2008, Arab donor states gave an average of 1.5 per cent of their combined gross national income (GNI), or more than twice the UN target.

In 2007, the UAE gave 0.24 per cent of GNI, from a high of 12 per cent in 1973, according to the World Bank report, which noted the decline in the UAE’s foreign aid contributions mirrors the drop in the price of oil, “domestic debt service requirements”, as well as the economic impact of the Gulf War in the early 90s.