RAE AL- KHAIMAH, UAE: Long before the discovery of oil transformed the Gulf, pearl were the region's source of wealth, and pearl divers were a mainstay of the economy. Their way of life, however, was changed forever after Japanese researchers learned how to grow cultured pearls in 1930s. Now a collaboration between pearl traders in Japan and the United Arab Emirates had brought oyster farming and cultured pearl harvests to the UAE for the first time. The joint centure of RAK pearl Holding of Abdulla al-Suwaidi and Japanese pearl merchant Daiji Imura currently has 200,000 oysters and plans for further expansion.