Interviewer: Welcome to our daily programme on the Arab 
World; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.Deep-sea merchant ships then began to anchor offshore, 
transferring their goods onto dhows to transport them to 
Dubai and Khan CreekBy the 1870s, Dubai had already been 
identified as the principal port on the Gulf coast, but in the 
early 1900s it was declared a free port and then it really took 
off.Today, Professor 
Hadi will talk to us about UAE trade history and the 
development of its transport infrastructure.Professor: The UAE has a long history as an international 
trading centre.