Comments

TP: the arabs are one of the most hospitable soceities.. having traveled thru that area.. I look back and enjoyed their traditions & culture. The Bubble in making is that their localization strategy is not fully implemented. Once the younger GenY get working and into the main stream of economics.. the old arab trail for trade will once again happen. DXB is the classic e.g All trade from far east is being routed thru DXB for the EU's and Africa's....

Posted by /pd at December 1, 2004 5:55 PM

Islamofascism!!!

They can be tamed per the Henry Kissinger article in today's Washington Post. The president has street cred with Sharon & Tel Aviv - the death of Islameofascist #1 boy Araphatttt w/ his $22M/year (USA/UN $$$) "wife" is a key turning point!!!

The question mark is that 60% think the multiple STD bin Laden is a "hero" - so watch your back baby!!!

Posted by Freeman at December 3, 2004 11:56 AM

First of all, thanks for the wonderful words about Dubai. I attended the two days Leasdership forum this week, this was one of the best fourm that I have attended, and you were marvelous.

Please come back to Dubai, we are the people of Dubai needs someone wise and the gurus like you, to tell the world about the bright side of the Arab Worlds.

God bless Tom.

Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz

Posted by Mohammed at December 4, 2004 3:46 PM

Dunno what the first 2 guys are on about. I certainly know what the third is talking about and it rocks!

There is, undoubtedly, a demographic time-bomb in the making, but what can you expect in a country that has built itself from very nearly nothing at the beginning, to the amazing stuff we see now, shortly after the 33rd birthday of the country! Help and guidance will always be needed and listened to (and this applies to any country, no matter how old). Technical skills and cheap labour are also imported. None of the Emirates could achieved what they have done in such a short time without expert help from outside.

But let's have no mistake, the current leadership in Dubai is remarkable, what they dreamed a year ago is now being built. Long may they continue. The demographics will sort themselves out as more UAE nationals get a world-class education, a spot of experience and a chance to make an impact.

But I hope we never see a time where Dubai becomes a place where only locals can work - for many people here the attraction is that you have a multi-layered, multi-cultural society, where, every day of your life you will have a new and refreshing experience.

There may be an element of bubble-osity in what's happening now, but no-one is worried about it. If it is the start of a bubble, the end of it is an awful long way off. The reason being that everybody wants to live in a safe, secure, open and 'tax-free' society. Where the weather is fantastic. And as long as there is electricity to run the air-conditioners, people will flock to the Emirates!

Posted by Keith Williamson at December 5, 2004 8:13 AM

Keith: you ahve lived in UAE for 10 years.. you have seen the growth..What I talked about is the localization strategies of the genY demographics.. How many expats have jobs there and how many locals have jobs ?? There will be time that many GenY will want those jobs that the expats have.... the UAE hub is still the largest hub /free zone in the MEA area.. correct ??

Posted by /pd at December 5, 2004 11:10 AM

PD, I just wrote quite a long essay trying to answer your questions. But here's the short answer. How many locals are looking for jobs? In Dubai, I think less than 30,000. How many expats have jobs? Technically all of them. You are not allowed to be here unless you have a job (or your own business), or you are a dependant of someone who does. Out of a current population of just over 1 million (expected to become 3 million in 15 years' time), the local population is about 20%. The rest is expats. Of those, a very large proportion are males working here on single status. If your earnings pass a certain threshold, you are allowed to sponsor your spouse and kiddiwinkles.

Tanmia, the Government Agency charged with finding jobs for unemployed locals, is currently focussing on the Banking & Insurance industries as providing suitable jobs for locals. I'm not trying to criticise anyone here, but it is generally felt that locals expect too much money, do not have a strong work ethic, la la la. And it's pretty difficult to fire them if they turn out to be useless. Now that's a bunch of horrible generalisations, but I didn't make them up.

Sure, you would expect to have a kind of a right to a job in your own country, but I had to leave mine because of a major recession when no architect or designer could get work, and when 50% of the profession was unemployed.

Dunno what I'm trying to say here, except maybe, Dubai is multi-cultural, and absolutely could not function without the kind of population mix it has now. Sure, locals need to find work, but you ain't never gonna see one pouring concrete on a building site.

Posted by Keith Williamson at December 5, 2004 1:59 PM