In time, all seven emirates -- and all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries -- will be linked by a coastal high-speed rail network.

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The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries-- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)--channel their oil wealth into homeland economies and mammoth infrastructure projects.

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In the last five years, gross domestic product in GCC countries has risen an average of 7%, according to Koon Chow, senior emerging markets strategist at Barclays Capital in London.

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