Dubai thrives for economic progress in the coming years, 2011 was the first step – Part 2

Moreover, Dubai is also continuing to invest in infrastructure to finish what it started. Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum approved a $7.8 billion expansion plan for Dubai’s two airports to boost annual capacity to 75 million travellers by 2012 and to 90 million by 2018, Paul Griffiths, chief executive officer of Dubai Airports, said July 2011.

The stock market gained more than anywhere else in the world last month, its DFM General Index (DFMGI) surging 21 percent as companies improved earnings and paid higher dividends. It is an improvement in the region over the last four years.

In fact, the whole gulf region is running a hot streak of late. Dubai recorded an economical growth of 3 percent in 2011, while the neighbouring Saudi Arabia showed 6.5 percent and Qatar, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, showed grew 19 percent, the fastest expansion in the world.

The oil prices helped foster the economy of the region as well. The crude oil prices tripled on the pre-2008 price per barrel to help the Gulf countries raise a bulk of dollars. OPEC recorded revenue of around a trillion dollars, that the corporates injected into the states to assist in the crisis. GCC, which includes UAE, Saudi Arab and Qatar, accounted for about 51 percent of oil in the world. Mind you, Dubai does not have any oil reservoirs but the global nature of corporates and UAE jointly resuscitated the region.

This however, does not mean that the city is out of the oblivion yet. The loan that Dubai has borrowed from the likes of Abu Dhabi is still unpaid at large. he second largest of seven sheikhdoms in the U.A.E., Dubai racked up $129 billion in debt transforming itself into a financial and tourism hub, spawning the record-breaking Burj Khalifa tower and malls housing the likes of Louis Vuitton.

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Posted by Usman Khalid on Mar 12 2012. Filed under Business, Middle East, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.