A top official at the World Food Programme (WFP) recently revealed that the UAE is the fifth-largest donor to the organization with contributions totaling $270 million in 2019. 

The Gulf state came in after the U.S., UK, EU and Germany and is now also the top regional voluntary contributor to WFP, having sent in huge donations over the past few years.  

Mageed Yahia, WFP director in the UAE, said the country's biggest contribution to the humanitarian institution is its "hosting" efforts during the past 15 years. 

"The UAE is contributing efficiently to our operations in Yemen, Bangladesh for Rohingya refugees and our school programmes in Cuba," Yahia, said. 

"We are proud of this partnership and working together to move forward to strengthen it," he added.

Yahia's remarks came after he took part in a high-level roundtable discussion convened by the WFP at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Abu Dhabi. 

The discussions held in Abu Dhabi were centered on the link between climate change and food security "with special emphasis on the situation in the Horn of Africa."

WFP regional director for East Africa, Erika Joergensen, also took part in the event which was moderated by Jamal Al Suwaidi, the director-general of Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research.

The UAE is a huge supporter of WFP initiatives and the organization often holds meetings in the country. 

The UAE is no stranger to lending a helping hand and providing assistance to humanitarian organizations within the UAE and abroad. 

In 2016, the UAE was named one of the world's top 10 generous nations. That same year, the UAE's President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced that 2017 would be dubbed the "Year of Giving," to promote a culture of giving back to the community and volunteering, and it paid off. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranked the UAE as the world's largest donor of official development aid, relative to its national income, in 2017. 

The "Year of Giving" saw the UAE host thousands of events including the "Reaching the Last Mile" forum, which was dedicated to eradicating diseases such as malaria and polio. Held in Abu Dhabi, the event saw the announcement of a $100 million fund  with the goal of wiping out many of the world's deadliest diseases. At the time, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed paid forward $20 million to the cause. 

Emirati officials have also made fair donations to countries hit by natural disasters. In 2003, Dubai's Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum established the country's International Humanitarian City (IHC) which is considered the world's largest logistical center for aid. 

The organization has played a pivotal role in aid responses to crisis-hit areas including Gaza, Haiti, Sudan, and several others. 

Saudi Arabia has been publicizing its openness to tourism on many different fronts in a bid to reach its goals of generating revenues from the sector. 

In statements made recently, the President and Chief Executive of the World Travel and Tourism Council revealed that the field is set to account for 5 percent of the country's GDP by 2021. Speaking to The National, earlier this week, Gloria Guevara explained that the kingdom's promotional efforts are definitely working. 

"We will see an interesting growth based on changes they made on visas ... and millions of new jobs will be created," she said. 

The statements came just days after the kingdom officially opened its doors to tourists. After much speculation, Saudi Arabia finally announced a new plan allowing visa-free travel for tourists from 49 countries last week. These visas are now available online, on arrival, or at Saudi diplomatic missions for about $120 — a fee that includes health insurance coverage. 

A key goal under Vision 2030 is to increase the number of tourists who visit the kingdom and revenues generated from the sector to 18 percent in the next 14 years. Under the ambitious blueprint, Saudi Arabia is expected to host up to 1.5 million tourists by 2020. Now while much of that number comes from religious tourism, this doesn't mean effort hasn't been put into the growth of the leisure tourism sector. In fact, the kingdom has been slowly inviting tourists to enjoy the many activities, summer festivals, sporting events, and concerts.

At the end of last year, the kingdom announced it will begin offering electronic visas for foreign visitors who wish to attend sporting events and concerts. In December, the kingdom launched the visa service for visitors for the motoring event Formula E and saw 1,000 tourists from 80 countries land in the kingdom.

This summer, Saudi Arabia did the same thing when the Jeddah Season festival began. All attendees from abroad were granted a visa online upon purchasing an event ticket. 

There have been reports of an increase in the number of travelers entering Saudi Arabia this year. In August, hotels located in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah were expected to record their highest occupancy rate in three years based on preliminary date revealing that there was a significant increase in the city's hotel occupancy in July. 

The kingdom is currently working on developing its Red Sea coast into a luxury beach destination governed by "independent laws." The project aims at transforming Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastline into a global tourism hotspot, with luxury hotels and pristine beaches.

Construction work on the project began earlier this year. The first phase is expected to be completed by the end of 2022 including the development of hotels and luxury residential units, as well as all logistical infrastructure including air, land, and sea transport hubs.

The project is set to be fully completed by 2030 and has already been getting rave reviews from people who've seen how it's slowly materializing into reality.