UAE to rebrand

News today suggests that the UAE is to rebrand in order to eliminate confusion over its name. Rumours suggest that this came about because of a number of reasons:

1. In the recent port deal, the US got confused that it was doing a deal with Dubai and couldn't find it on a list of approved countries.

2. The UAE now doesn't like the fact that the word United was in both country names

3. No-one understood the term emirate and whether this means state or not.

The new name is unlikely to come into play until the end of the year but Sheikhs Mohamed and Khalifa have set up the CNC, the country naming committee, which will head up a task force to find out the new name. Expect surveys in the Gulf-News, competitions on Radio 1 and door to door gaging of opinion over the coming months. Initial names suggested include Dubai Dhabi, Abu Dubai, Saudarf, Fraudas (both using the first letters of each of the emirates). The Galaxy has been suggested, since it would contain The World.

The rebranding exercise is likely to cost in the region of 50 Billion Dirhams and is most likely to be funded from an IPO on the one of the local markets.

From the World to the Real World

Good overview article of Dubai in the FT, telling it how it is. Yes, slowly going crazy in Dubai.

Unions

In a swift move, typical of the Labour Minister, the concept of unions has now been addressed officially so that construction workers can be treated as human beings. The first step is recognising that there is a problem, the next is implementation of a solution. Steps have been made to ammend the labor law to create unions, but the real issues is whether these laws will be upheld or enforced. The proof is in the pudding. And let's not wait until the end of the year.

Why Dubai's Geography Matters

A linear analysis on the the port deal by OUP. More factors were at play with this as we all know, whether you were pro or against the deal

Love how they can get the Dubayy and Abu Zaby thing so wrong. Even if it were right, wouldn't "Locals" spell it in Arabic?

Mais Dubaï c'est où ?

Dubai, c'est ici, n'est-ce pas? Je veux que je me pratique ma francais apres les examens. Je le trouve drôle au sujet de l'enchaînement du Dubaï et du Al Jazeera. Zut alors, mes amis, zut alors!

Globalization, Education and Sport

George Mason University, Ras Al Khaimah.

Human Rights in the UAE

The recent protests regarding the unfair treatment of workers in the construction industry is a culmination of a simmering feeling that seemed to bubble over the cauldron every now and then. Protests are, by all accounts, illegal in the UAE, but they have slowly started to increase over the last 12 months until the Burj Brouhaha spilled over to the delights of the watchful international media. Over recent days, one by one, the larger publications published their take on the situation. Views emanated from all over, and the world has begun to take note.

Today the Human Rights Education Associates issued a statement entitled No Free Trade Pacts Without Reform. The article is a clear summary of treatment of the workers, and a critique of the UAE Government. It warrants your time and thought. It ends on this note:

The governments of the United States, the European Union, and Australia
are currently negotiating free trade agreements with the UAE. Human Rights
Watch called on these governments to require improvement of UAE’s labor
practices and legal standards before signing such agreements. Human Rights
Watch also urged these governments to include in any free trade agreements
reached with the UAE strong, enforceable workers’ rights provisions that
require parties’ labor laws to meet international standards, and the
effective enforcement of those laws.

There is more to come. They have conducted a full review of conditions and will be releasing them soon. Could a matter that has been swept under the carpet for so long rear its ugly head to be the stumbling block in the UAE's quest to be become the trade partner to the world? If there was ever a time for the UAE to address human rights issues, now is it. For the good of the workers, for the good of the UAE, for the good of humanity. The world is watching.

UAE's first independent current affairs ezine

That's a first. Thanks to ORB-UAE for bestowing on me the title. My interview is on there as well. Man, I feel famous.

Dubai is the Centre of the World

As stated by the President of Emirates Airline:

Dubai is "perfectly located to be the global hub of this century," Flanagan said. "Look at a map of the world, with the Americas down one side, and China and Japan down the other. If you balance that all on a point, that point is Dubai."

The artcile talks of non retailation on the Ports Deal, Emirates domination of the long haul and how the airline's success can be alikened to the success of Dubai thusfar. A pretty accurate analogy at some levels.

Silver in the City of Gold

On a retail level, Dubai is known as the city of Gold. YOu need only to walk through the Gold Souk to figure that one out. On a trading level, Silver Futures were launched yesterday in the DMCX in a booming market, which promises to rise further. Forget the volatile ups and downs of the stock market. Long term stability is in the precious metals.

In the battle of Elissa and Nancy Ajram....

....Elissa keeps winning. Well, kinda. Pepsi announced today that it has a 70% market share of the soft drinks market in the UAE. That is astounding, considering Coca Cola dominates the industry in most regions. With Pepsi's strategy to focus more on non carbonated drinks, it is firmly placed to maintain this position in this growth market with AquaFina.

Lost in Translation

Don't ask me why, but I needed to get some braces for someone back home, you know, those elasticated belt type things to keep your trousers up, not the teeth corrective thingys. So, while in our local multistore, which I haven't been to in some time, I decided to kill a number of birds with one stone, one of which were the braces. After rummaging through the belts, and searching near the suit section, and the men's accessories area, I decided that I was going to have to ask the man in the blue shirt (mibs). The conversation, went something like this - I kid you not.

ME: Excuse me?
MIBS: Yes, boss. [Aside, I like being called boss randomly like this]
ME: Do you have braces here?
MIBS: [blank stare]
ME: Braces?
MIBS: Tracey???
ME: No. Braces.
MIBS: Pastries?
ME: [small chuckle, is this guy messing with me?]
ME: No. BRACES [I do the Stan Laurel motion]
MIBS: You mean shirt?
ME: No! You know - braces, to hold up trousers?
MIBS: Belt?
ME: No. Like belt, but two...held with clip...
MIBS: OH! You mean BRACES!
MIBS: [hahhaahahahahaha] I no understand your accent. You have funny accent.
ME: Like English Accent?
MIBS: Yes, boss, like English accent.
ME: OK, so...where are the braces then?
MIBS: Braces? We don't sell braces here. We sell belts. You want belt. Belt is better. We have nice belt.
ME: *&***&*& *&* ****
MIBS: Boss, it's on sale, boss. Boss?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Banishing the Sterotype

This recent Time article about racial profiling got me thinking. In the US, where race still plays a big issue in society, people sterotype based on your nationality or origin, as demonstrated so artistically by the film Crash. Here, in the UAE, we talk about a melting pot where nationalities and cultures come together. I think this is a misnomer. While, undeniably we must all exist together, more and more do I see a separation into pockets of society. More and more do I see stereotypes in play. If you are from the West, you are overpaid and moan a lot. If you are Arab, you are lazy. If you are from the East, we'll pay you a pittance because that's what you'll accept working for. We need to get past this. We need to move past our own sterotypes of our own race and judge others as we would want them to judge ourselves. It is time to create an open mind. In some respects, we are at a stage worse than in the US, but, in other respects, we are better off - there is more opportunity to change. Banish the sterotype and treat your neighbour as equal, and make the UAE a melting pot of meritocracy, not of stereotype.

Dubai Currency Futures

News that the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange will trade currency futures is an obvious but bold move in a region which is fast picking up where it was left behind.

For those that are not into the financial mumbo jumbo, a currency future is essentially a contract to buy or sell a foreign currency on a future date at an agreed set price. These can be traded on an exchange. What this does is allow companies or, indeed, individuals to hedge against foreign currency risk.

It usually revolves around one currency, the USD, and since the Dirham is currently pegged to it, it seems a good move in a region which sits close between the Far East and the West. And thus it will trade in Yen, Euros and Pounds.

Why is this important? With all the trade that is coming through here, companies will want to minimise the risk of operations elsewhere. It also sets the precendent for Dubai being the Finance Centre of the Middle East, ahead of Qatar and Bahrain.

The specifics have yet to be drawn up, but somebody somewhere is has got their thinking hat on. Furthermore, with a Gulf wide Common Currency to be implemented within the next 5-10 years, this move could be very smart indeed.

Let the games begin

Sir Dicky doesn't mess around. The time has come for the battle to begin on the 2nd most popular long haul route from Heathrow. Mr Branson must have done his homework, and I'm sure that this is good news for Dubai and for Virgin. Virgin, although a minnow compared to Emirates, is like Rocky in the boxing ring. As Mr Bhoyrul says:

"Branson’s style is to come in cheap, blaze the market and hope it will stay loyal. And it usually works — in the last thirty years, Virgin has created five totally separate billion dollar businesses."

Emirates Airline, be afraid. This is a growth market and Richard is going to take as much of that as possible from under your nose.

USA buys UAE

Why is it that when investment comes into the UAE, in purchase of some of the UAE's prize assets that there is no furore and it is considered business as usual? Because it is in the spirit of free economy, trade and business. Things like this simply go unnoticed, because it is normal practice in this day and age. It's time to step towards a globalised economy and realise that long term partnerships, like this are in everyone's best interest.

Net Immigration

I was looking into immigration figures and the like in relation to the UAE and found this great little site called World Mapper which resizes the world on different criteria. The picture below shows the relative levels of net immigration.



The page also links to data, in Excel format, and although some of it is a little out of date, it gives an interesting view of world. FYI, the UAE scores highest on net immigration at 59% closely followed by Qatar.

The population maps are particularly interesing with India and China looking like real powerhouses.

one hundred billion dollars

It sound like a threat from Dr. Evil. But no, $100bn is the amount talked about by Abu Dhabi for investment purposes to diversify away from oil and gas.

Al Mubarak, Head of Mubadala said: “The next five to eight years will be a very exciting time. I think it is like the early days of Singapore.”

Interesting times for Abu Dhabi. Read the Sunday Times article on Abu Dhabi wooing UK companies