The United Arab Emirates will see economic growth of up to three per cent next year, the country's economy minister said on Friday, reiterating that growth would be a more tepid 1.3 per cent this year.

Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting in Dubai.

Asked about the UAE's growth outlook for 2010, he replied: 'We are very positive about (growth). My expectation is we will manage up to 3 per cent.'

The global credit crunch sent the top Gulf Arab economies - Saudi Arabia and the UAE - into a downturn this year but high state spending and a turnaround in oil prices are helping the world's top oil-producing region get back on its feet.

For this year, Mansouri said growth would be a modest 1.3 per cent. 'If you take inflation which used to 12 per cent and now it's down to 3 per cent, if you minus that from the overall GDP growth as it is calculated, we will manage 1.3 per cent (growth) in 2009.

Inflation, a major headache in the region in the year of an oil and property-fuelled boom, has dropped sharply in the world's third largest oil exporter. Last year, UAE peaked at 12.3 per cent.-Reuters