Just as the property market starts to slow, the ugly head of timeshare Dubai looms. It's more affordable for the overseas investor and it's a mugs game. I have memories of slimey salesmen trying to sell to my parents in the early 80s on holiday in Spain and Portugal. My dad's words: " Don't talk to them, just look down".

I am sure that the gathering of data on Dubai will be an arduous task, but to call it the world's biggest is pushing it a little. Perhaps, it's because the term e-statistics is not used so much.

The Government of Dubai is planning to launch the world's biggest e-statistics project, in an effort to centralise the flow of information in the Dubai economy, reported a local daily on Monday.

"Following its launch, the project will provide comprehensive, unified and precise data at Dubai level," said Al Muheiri, director of the Data Center in Dubai municipality. "Subscribers will have access to this system through the internet." The number of parties who have joined the Central Data System's statistics in Dubai has increased to 20, following the addition of six new parties, which are concerned with issuing data for the economic sector in Dubai.

Certainly doesn't sound that big to me. Grapeshisha gives the world's biggest eyebrow raise in astonishment. No doubt there are lies told about their tools are as well. Remind's me of the "Goodness Gracious Me" skit about the mothers discussing their sons' "dundas".

It's prime time for the UAE agencies wanting to get a piece of the action. If recent activity is anything to go by, the job market in the UAE is going to grow as companies search for the cream of the crop. Three prime examples:

1. Monstergulf.com from monster.com launched this week
2. Imprint says buys UAE recruitment firm Ingram for up to GBP 5m (finally!)
3. Naukrigulf.com launches Resume Database Access

All these are significant stories in their own right: Monster entering the market through its sheer power of brand recogntion; Imprint buying into Dubai, and gbp5m is not small cheese; and Naukri has stepped up its Mena game. All three of these companies can't be wrong. There is a big search for talent, and it begins right now.

UK to UAE (Dubai takes 84%)
UAE to UK (Dubai sends 65%)

No doubt the increased focus on the UAE as a key market for the UK will focus on Abu Dhabi.

Maybe in a few years. Many stumblng points, but there's a chance. Come on Stelios!

An obvious point, but one worth emphasizing.

"I suspected the people would be as I see them on TV - aggressive, angry," Atoom Al-Khatiry said. Instead, "The people were really friendly, very helpful and 360 degrees from the concept people have. It was amazing."

With all the buzz about ski dubai, I forgot about the Ski Dome which is being built in DubaiLand



In February this year, the groundwork officially started for the new Snowdome at Dubailand. It will be the first comprehensive snow resort in Dubai on a par with the leading international ski resorts — but better.

The ski resort in Dubai will boast real live penguins.

The Snowdome consists of hotels and lodging, a leisure winter wonderland with all the adventure attractions of a snow and ice leisure park a skating arena, toboggan run and much more. The 32Group hopes the project will be completed by the end of 2008. It is hoped this will attract visitors who would normally travel overseas during the summer to escape the Middle Eastern heat.

Penguins - now Dubai is getting ridiculous!

There is always the chance of air collisons, and that's why you have an air traffic control system. It works most of the time. And then on the roads, you have traffic systems with traffic lights, rules etc. Many people in the UAE ignore them. That's why there are so many accidents. And now, with so many cranes in existence in Dubai, a Cranes anti-collision system has been installed at the building site of the Dubai Mall. I never knew such things existed. I assume there is some sort of crane traffic tower, most probably located at the highest point of the Burj, at any one time. The thought of two cranes crashing feels like something out of the Terminator.

The date is set, but the critics are already sticking their knives in. Palm Jumeirah will hand over 4,000 villas, but this is what the Associated Press is saying right now:

- The island's construction has not all been smooth, and most buyers were supposed to get keys to their island homes a year ago.

- Some of the new land sank and Nakheel needed an extra year to add more and pack it with vibrating land compactors.

- Reports from those who have wandered through the island's giant homes describe them as cheaply finished and set uncomfortably close to one another.

- Nakheel rejected an Associated Press request to visit the island.

- Overburdened roads in Dubai's Jumeirah Beach neighborhood are expected to clog further as people begin moving onto the island, accessible, for now, by a single bridge. Mainlanders have already put up with years of road works and innumerable trucks hauling boulders to the island.

- Those moving onto the Palm Jumeirah this year will have to live with construction for another three years, and then an influx of tourists.

- The World's sales trouble stems from simple economics: Nakheel is selling empty islands for tens of millions of dollars only to builders promising low-density luxury.

- Also nearing completion are 2,650 apartments in 20 high-rises that have sprung up on the island's trunk. The hulking complexes are visible from shore, where the sprawling island, with its dredges, highway overpasses and construction cranes has become a major eyesore for resort hotels on Dubai's once idyllic natural beaches.

We are reaching a crucial date. The World [sic] will either love it or hate it, and much of the fortunes of the Dubai's property market will depend on what the perception of it is. No doubt it will bring in the tourists, but will the people living there take to being in the goldfish bowl? And while most of the Palm Jumeirah residences won't really affect the the demand/supply conundrum, simply due to price, it could result in the later chain buyers losing out on a bit of cash. Let's see how this unfolds.

Foreigners could be active players in ADSM with 35 out of the 59 listed companies allowing foreigners to trade in their shares soon.....According to ADSM statistics, UAE nationals accounted for 60.3 per cent of total investors at ADSM, followed by GCC nationals (34.4 per cent), Arab nationals (3.5 per cent) and foreigners (1.9 per cent).

Abu Dhabi bourse to allow foreigners to trade

The Middle East Crane Conference will be attended by the thousands of cranes currently residing in Dubai. Topics to be discussed include, working hours, overcrowding, worry over height increases and posing for the paparazzi. The event will be chaired by Burj Crane.

It was only a matter of time before the big guns joined the market. Monster.com has joined the region with a Gulf offering, called monstergulf.com. I am sure now that the recrutiment market will stat to hot up. Essentially they are competing head on with bayt.com, but with its huge brand value, I am sure that it will leverage its credentials across the whole market. It will be interesting how Monster is able to tailor its options to the varying makets within the region and, indeed, how it hopes to gain recognition amongst the Arabic market. It's still in beta, but surely this is the beginning of the end for people being fooled by jobsindubai.com.

I have blogged about this before.
Monday is going to be special.

Emaar of Hampton Intl. (Emaar is all over everything right now)
Dubai Financial of the Thomas Cook Brand Licence. (Smart move in a market with a no real brand leader)

When you need some extra deep fry for those hot wings, followed by resultant bowel problems, come to Oil and Gas City in Abu Dhabi. All joking aside, this is good idea, but when reviewing what it actually is, it forms part of the new freezones for the capital emirate. So what is the real reason behind settng something like this up, to create awareness? Branding. Many peole I hae spoken to don't know of the freezones set up in AD. Mention HCSEZ, and it looks like a Russian Mexican. No matter, much of the industrial work that will go to the freezones, will be oil related.

The five major trends reshaping the world economy
1 the rising cost of Energy
2 the Experimental monetary system
3 where are we in the Economic cycle?
4 the Exodus of money from West to East
5 the decline of the American Empire

What is the biggest threat to the global economy?
1 rising price of oil
2 escalating geopolitical tensions
3 interest rate hikes
4 the end may be In sight

Despite all the complaining, all the gripes, The UAE is happy. The UAE ranked 22nd in the world for happiness.



Check out the full results from the University of Leicester

The inflation issue has primarily been based upon the simple demand surge not meeting the supply of housing units. That's a simple analogy, but much is based on it. The official rate of inflation for 2005 was 6%, but NBD estimated it at between 15 and 22%. Back in June, John Chilton summarised the basic issue of data discrepancy with the estimates that exist. We now have Standard Chartered estimating that the rate in Dubai this year would be roughly 9.4% dropping from 13% last year, but will fall to 3.4% next year as the completion of a number of housing projects comes to fruition. But then the inflation shift a few miles south to the capital:

"As regards to Abu Dhabi's property market, we are expecting rents and prices to increase further, as there is a supply shortage there, and the gap between supply and the rising demand is not expected to be bridged soon. Accordingly, the overall inflation rate is not expected to change as the developments in Dubai are expected to be offset by these in Abu Dhabi."

Abu Dhabi is already feeling the pinch, and that will get to Dubai Standards next year, as the capital struggles to provide the quick win projects but continues to bask in the super projects of a few years to come.

Dubai traffic requires oodles of patience. So does making something like this:

This sums it up:


Courtesy of sha3teely

So finally the Census numbers are revealed.

According to these new findings, the current population of the UAE is 3,769,080 which represents a population growth rate of 74.8% from the last census carried out in 1995. However, this does not take account of non-nationals who were not present during the census fieldwork period and those with invalid residency visas. This number is estimated to be 335,615 providing an overall population figure for the UAE, excluding visitors, of 4,104,695. The largest emirate by population is Abu Dhabi with 1,292,119 people.

Some points of note
1.Those not present and those with invalid residency visas were nearly 8% of the 4.1 milion. I suspect that number is actually larger.
2. "Based on the census data 38.1% of the nationals are less than 14 years old. Nationals less than 20 years old are 51.1%." With the total number of nationals is 824,921, and with a crude estimate, you have 18,000 UAE Nationals joining the job maket, annually. The Emiratisation people must take note!
3. The UAE National Guys to Gals ratio is almost 50:50. No excuse to marry a foreigner then!
4. The Locals to Expats ratio is 1 in 5. If you exclude blue collar workers, that would probably be about 1 in 8. That would be a good number for a minimum emiratisation rate.
5. "The census also does not cover visitors and members of the households that refused to cooperate or were not available in the UAE during the census period."....or were too scared to answer the door to complete strangers.
6. The total male to female ration is roughly 7 to 3. That's the reason why there are a lot of oglers in the mall.

Minus 2.

I like Oxford Business Group's briefings. They provide good insight to emerging markets, especially Abu Dhabi and Dubai, but to announce that they have a new "Abu Dhabi Country Director" might start territory wars!

Oxford Business Group (OBG), the UK-based publishing, research and consultancy services company and the name behind the authoritative Emerging Markets economic, political and business annuals, has appointed Tatjana Marinko as its Abu Dhabi Country Director.

This takes Emiratisation in another direction!

Campaign ME have a good article to see the state of play of the newspapers in the UAE, both the Arabic Dailies, and the English ones:

Gulf News enjoys a substantial lead over its rivals with more than 50% of overall readership in the non-Arab expat category, followed by Khaleej Times (29%), Emirates Today (5.5%), 7Days (4.4%) and the Keralan newspaper Malayalam Manorama (4.3%).

In probably an immature market, there two clear leaders as far as the English speaking papers go. Of course, this doesn't take into consideration the online medium, but I think that seriousness of Gulf News would win through. The question that is asked is whether the newer papers can steal turf over the old guard. Emirates Today, will probably gain market share, and with a new editor-in-chief coming into 7days, who will take whose market share? The Arabian Business Standard has unoffically been delayed again, from what I am hearing, but that will be an interesting conundrum. With long term existence from the Arabic Ittihad and new school understanding from ITP, will the Arabian Business Standard, take market share from Gulf News and Khaleej Times. That's when we will start to get real niche's as the papers start to differentiate themselves into more clear market segments. Hey, and maybe the quality will improve also.

From 25 to 75 bucks a barrell in little over 4 years. This demonstrates the discrepency between demand that will always be certain and supply which is always problematic. The article from the Washington Post hypothesises speculatation only in the supply market, which is directly affected by the Middle East conflict. And, if this sort of high pricing continues, stockpiling will occur to obtain the later higher price. And this makes sense, even for the demand side to bid the prices higher, as I mentioned in my previous post, as supply will continue this way for some time. However, if there is some sort of resolution, there will be a temporary bursting of this bubble. Oil specualtion is the market to be in at the moment, or oil selling, of course.

Washington post: Is there an Oil Bubble

around the occupied territories as deomonstrated by the Economist.

Accordng to Adam Sieminski of Deutsche Bank, we could be seeing $100 a barrel pretty soon. With the conflicts still going strong, the perception of the bulls is that will touch $125.

"Market commentators still seem to view the prospect of $100-a-barrel oil as shocking," he says in a research note. The options market is reflecting a more blase attitude to this risk; $125 oil is the new target for bullish trades."

But with Angola and Azerbaijan looking to increase their production over the medium term, there should be some longer term stability that is not fully dependant on the Middle East, although the Middle East will always play a big part in the "oil game".

You've seen the before and after pictures of Sheikh Zayed Road, probably about a hundred times, but you haven't seen it like this (you need flash installed):

Courtesy of SignalStrong

courtesy of Veoh

Encorporate a shela instead of the headband, and you have a mega market in the Gulf.



From Popgadget

With no more YouTube, I got a little desperate.

Just heard about a new book called "The Drive to Dubai" by Julie Till

Description

When his father is arrested in Dubai, Kareem has to move fast. He must show that his father is not a thief – and prove that his family is honest. For Kareem is going to marry the beautiful and intelligent Samira Al-Hussain, and she could never marry someone from a bad family.

So Kareem and his brother get to work quickly – with a little help from Samira.

If anyone has read it, let me know what it is like. Maybe Dallas Austin was reading the book on the plane in to Dubai.

Some numbers out today: Abu Dhabi's GDP for 2005: USD:82.14bn. That's huge. If we assume that 39.4% of the population lives in the emirate of Abu Dhabi and take the population estimate of 4.7m for the whole of the UAE, we get a GDP per capita figure of more than USD.44,000. That is a big number. Abu Dhabi still makes the bulk of the GDP in the UAE, a lot more than Dubai, and this predominantly due to Oil. But, with Abu Dhabi looking to focus on the non oil sector also, with the set up of a JV tourism venture, work starting on Shams by Sorouh, and the focus on the Industrial Zones, the capital emirate will still be a significant player, economy wise, no matter how large Dubai eventually becomes. And while the bombs keep falling, the oil price hovers around that 75 dollar mark, which will further increase Abu Dhabi's GDP for next year. I'm not sure that ironic is the right word to use.

Two interesting reports of note that came to my attention today, that are related. Firstly, the Economist Intelligence Unit e-readiness rankings for 2006. This places the UAE as 30th in the world and number 2 for the MEA region, after Israel. E-readiness is, to quote from the report:

...the “state of play” of a country’s information and communications technology (ICT)infrastructure and the ability of its consumers, businesses and governments to use ICT to their benefit. When a country does more online—or, as is increasingly the case, wirelessly—the premise is that its economy can become a more transparent and efficient one. Our ranking allows governments to gauge the success of
their technology initiatives against those of other countries. It also provides companies that wish to invest in online operations with an overview of the world’s most promising investment locations.

The e-readiness rankings are a weighted collection of nearly 100 quantitative and qualitative criteria, organised into six distinct categories measuring the various components of a country’s social, political, economic and of course technological development. The underlying principle behind the rankings is that digital business is at its heart business, and that for digital transactions to be widely adopted and efficient they have to thrive in a holistically supportive environment. E-readiness is not simply a matter of the number of computers, broadband connections and mobile phones in the country (although these naturally form a core component of the rankings); it also depends on such things as citizens’ ability to utilise technology skillfully, the transparency of the business and legal systems, and the extent to which governments encourage the use of digital technologies.

To end consumers, who face conflict with Etisalat regarding pay mechanisms, service provision, blanket banning of sites such as flickr, youtube, myspace and the like, this ranking doesn't appear to be make sense. But, looking at it from a broader sense, things are starting to come together in the e-economy. Of course there is a long way to go, but this ranking probably fits about right. What is sad is that the UAE could be even higher, but was hindered due to a relatively low score in connectivity rather than factors concerning infrastructure. What this means is that access and affordabilty are low scoring. It also takes into consideration Voip, which is currently not allowed in the country. Some would say that the weighting is skewed because of the high score that the UAE received in business environment, but in totality, the core accurately places the UAE,especially is you look at those placed close to it.

The other report worth looking at is the one released by Madar Research (free sign up required to obtain the full 116 page report). The report, entitled United Arab Emirates Knowledge Economy 2006, provides an overview of the UAE and the separate emirates, in relation to institutional, infrastructural and human resources components of a knowledge economy. There is also a "roadmap" recommendation that the UAE is likely to take to position the country amongst other global players.

The report is actually very well written, and puts ICT in context amongst all the major factors in the economy and in comparison to the region. The precursor concerning the UAE context is succinct and to the point and provides an excellent overview to anyone wanting a snapshot of the country, talking of the general themes of economic diversification, construction, budgets, free trade and the like. And while the bulk of the report centers on the knowledge economy, it is worth a look. The reason why I believe it to be good is that it sticts to the facts, and doesn't really look to have an agenda, apart from providing good quality research. And, in places, it is critical where it needs to be, from a point of pointing out discrepancies where the UAE could do better. Despite all this positive gusto, this report demonstrates very clearly that there is a growing divide between the two powerhouse emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai with the others. However, if you have a few minutes to spare, this is a worthwhile read, especially for the information junkies, like myself.

While the UAE is pretty passive in its allegiances (i.e. you won't see any active play, although there may be some things going on behind the scenes), being in the Middle East means that you should really know what is going in. For years I have struggled with who is linked to who, who gets on with who etc etc. And then, as if by magic, Slate produce this amazing Middle East Buddy List showing the relationship between the various parties involved. Ingenious.

Click here to view the interactive version of the diagram below:

Does anyone really know what is going on with demand and supply of residential units in Dubai? It is notoriously difficult to predict the current state of affairs, with a variety of small and large scale projects being announced. Add to that the changes, delays, and cancellations, and you may find it a little difficult to find a base case to start from. Furthermore, similar sounding projects all focused around sun, sand, water, and the like, it seems as if someone is joking with you so that you don't know what the state of play actually is.

I don't know who Prime Research are, but they have published some interesting numbers on residential unit completion:

2006 - 40,000
2007 - 52,000 (65,000)
2008 - 63,000 (66,000)

In isolation you would be forgiven if this doesn't mean anything to you. But let's thrown in this paragraph from menareport:

Prime Research's base case demand and supply forecasts imply a shortage of c.a. 12,000 residential units in 2006, followed by a supply excess of c.a. 6,000 and 33,000 units in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Rents and prices are thus expected to follow an upward trajectory in 2006. The marginal imbalance foreseen in 2007 leads us to believe that the general perception of a severe correction in the medium term is incorrect. Adjustments in prices are likely to vary from segment to segment, with a continued shortage in villas and medium to low end apartments expected to support prices in these sectors. Within the high end apartments segment, fundamentals, such as location and quality, are expected to determine the extent, if any, of correction. Rents, on the other hand, are more likely to witness a downward adjustment as a result of increased vacancy and greater acceptance of mortgage finance.

What does this mean? Crucially, if the numbers are to believed, and in my opinion, they look reasonable, supply is beginning to meet demand. With further completions due in future years, this should mean that rents and prices should stablise. Your landlord wont be able to charge you the excessive rents of recent years. Well maybe he will, but they are unlikely to increase in the same way as they have over the previous years. For the average Joe, this is good news as if your rent is too high, you will move elsewhere. This is all well and good, but is it too late?

When the war in Lebanon passes, there will be a massive reconstruction project to rebuild the beautiful country. If you look at Iraq, the US have been in there and are positioned to gain the contracts that will make them the megabucks. Lebanon will be different. It is a smaller state. There is already a emocracy in place, and there is no real influence by the United States.

What this means is that the Arab states will team together with the Lebanese, to create a booming city and country, that will finally reach that status that it deserves. Personally, Lebanon, to me, was one of those places which should have attracted more tourist interest, and given 5 years or so, it will attract a heavy influx of foreigners.

Remember Libya? The tourists are now starting to seek out places that were once considered no-gos. Beirut, which in recent years, was known as the party capital of the Middle East, will, one day, be that again.

In the meantime, some sort of ceasefire must be reached, whether that is tomorrow, or in weeks to come. After that, expect a time of consolidation, some diplomacy, and then for the rebuilding to start. Companies from the UAE, I have no doubt will be first in to invest. Emaar is perfectly placed as are some of the hotel chains.

And one day, Lebanon, will be all that it was, and more.

Old news, but worth highlighting. This summary diagram by Gulf News is a great overview:



Yet the issue still remains unclear. What exactly is freehold? And how does freehold differ from oter markets? And what about Dubai Marina and Emirates Hills? So many questions. And so few qualified responses.

...takes 53 procedures and 614 days in the UAE. That forms part of the package that places the UAE as 69th worldwide in terms of cost of doing business, according to the World Bank.

There is mention of the free zones again, with the benefit of 100% ownership, tax free status etc. What I am hearing these days is that the freezones are too expensive for the smaller company, and that now, if they don't discount the UAE altogether, they look to operate out of the freezones, unless the have managed to weave through the loopholes of getting the RAK freezone licence, and operating from Dubai. Now that's a commercial contact worth considering!

Download the full report from the World Bank (PDF)

Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid is the new number 2.



Beware! This Number two does not have an eye patch.

Full story here.

When speaking to one of my UAE National friends, we discussed the speed of growth of the UAE, and how it has become a worldwide hub, in nothing short of record time. But, he said, how do you change the mentality of the people. After all, this is the first generation post civilisation. A generation back, we were Bedu roaming the deserts living hand to mouth.

Indeed, he brings an interesting point. We talk of growth, but no naion has seen that kind of transformation, ever. From nothing, to world beating buildings and tourism, and an economy make up that is envied all over. No country can claim that type of transformation change.

And so, it is good news that you won't have the uncivilised big ban stamp across your passport, unless you are a proper criminal, of course.

This is particularly strange. A large water pool of the letters "HA", in Abu Dhabi.



There is specualtion that it means hectare. Whatever it is, it's a lot of money to be spending. My take is that it is part of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority's new way off attracting holiday makers. "HA...you've gone too far away from Dubai. Now you are in Abu Dhabi...and there's no going back!" Cue laughter from Doctor Evil.

Full source from Google Sightseeing

I am neither qualified enough nor does my blog cover such issues. There are those who are more knowledgable on the issue, and those who can speak more from the heart. However, this is a world issue, and an issue of grave consequences, one that affects everyone. When the history books are written, 2006 will be the year that Lebanon was devastated and hundreds of innocent lives were taken away for an over zealous reaction that has escalated out of proportion and has bubbled over into a brutal war. One can only hope that the bloodshed and carnage stops sooner rather than later. My heart goes out to all those that that have been affected, including all the Lebanese people, those that have been uprooted, and all who have lost loved ones. We must also spare a thought though for the Palestinians as well as the Iraqis whose situation has been overshadowed by events of the last week.

I don't wish to generalise on the issue, as the situation is as complex as one could imagine, with egos taking prominence over negotiations, but taken simply, the Lebanese people are the ones that have been attacked over this matter. Not putting a price on lives, but the Israelis and Hezbollah have together lost less lives that the Lebnese civilians. What I do welcome is the news from the UN that these acts can be considered as war crimes. A long time coming, I would say.

I leave you with a quote from Louise Arbor, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:

Indiscriminate shelling of cities constitutes a foreseeable and unacceptable targeting of civilians... Similarly, the bombardment of sites with alleged military significance, but resulting invariably in the killing of innocent civilians, is unjustifiable

When did the humans forget about humanity?

I don't really have the patience for this type of thing, but if it's your cup of chai, here is the link: Dune Bashing in Dubai




It's free, and you can add it to your site, if you so desire.

The second issue is out, with a focus on the contruction industry covering a variety of viewpoints, including "what happens when construction stops"! However, I like the Dubai Life Shorts, which I think could be built on, for the next issue. The fact that India has now overtaken China as the biggest exporter to Dubai, primarily due to gold is astonishing.

Dubai Life Issue 2 - worth a moment of your time.

Amongst chaos, gravitas and reasoning are king. For me, one of the must reads, if you are focusing on the UAE industry, is the biannual (sometimes more frequent) reports that the IMF produces concering the economy. It will be the closes you get to an accurate high level overview of the economy. Add the EIU data and some other sources, and you have a pretty good overview of which way the UAE economy is going, how well it is being managed, and areas of risk. Contrary to this, one of the major criticisms that the IMF has, concerns that of qualified statistics. Whether there are non qualified people in place, that the whole area is looked at as secondary, or providing accuracy in a time of change will provide conclusive evidence one way or the other - is not my place to judge.
"The U.A.E.’s economic statistics suffer from numerous structural weaknesses. Data shortcomings continue to impose serious constraints on economic monitoring, analysis, and policy formulation for both the authorities and staff."

I do think that transparency and accuracy are areas where the UAE could improve to assist those looking to invest and help the UAE reach its ambitions.

There's no need to summarise the points. You're either interested in the report, in which case read the whole thing, or you're not.

Staff Report for the 2006 Article IV Consultation
United Arab Emirates: Statistical Appendix

Etisalat bears the brunt of all the attacks on the banning of VOIP. With chatter this week regarding the banning of the actual ports used by Vonage, there appears to be a knocking down of any competition, one by one. I have long thought that by offering a tailored product themselves, or offering a JV solution, teaming up with skype for example, could reap big time benefits as those not used to talking overseas, would plump doing so, perhaps even upgrading to an "always on" line. What we must remember though, that while banning or ports and sites is to do with Etisalat, the service offering of VOIP rests with the TRA. In any case, there must be something going on behind the scenes if Cisco is in in discussions with offering the service with the duopoly.

Al Ain needs to completely close this down. It is shocking.




See all the pictures from Theme Park Review

22 minute overview of Dubai. Worth listening to.

BBC Podcast: The New Arab World

He has obviously been to one too many bullfights in Madrid. There is also a rumour that the Burj Riot Team have enlisted Zizou's services for next season. An undignified end to the career of a legend. Mais pourquoi, indeed.

Where would the UAE be if it didn't target the upmarket niche? The UAE is becoming synonymous with those things that are finer in life and will continue to target this market, in line with others. You need only look at the high end hotels with a focus on 5 star. The fact that the Harrods 102 convenience store is considering Dubai in the same breath as London, Paris, and Berlin speaks more of the target market that the Emirate brings in, tourism-wise, than Al- Fayed's previous links with the UAE. Couple this with the Sorbonne and Gugenheim both hoping to open in Abu Dhabi, which looks to be solely focused on this one area, the UAE is looking to capture that luxist, high-end, opulent market, whether it be business culture or otherwise. That's proper blinging.