Reconstructing Lebanon.

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.

Dubai Freehold

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.

Enforcing Commercial Contracts

...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)

Number 2

Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid is the new number 2.



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

Full story here.

UAE is now more civilised

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.

Abu Dhabi laughs at Aliens

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

The 2006 Lebanese War

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?

Dune Bashing in Dubai - The Game!

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.

Dubai Life Issue 2

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.

Qualified UAE Data

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

VOIP in the UAE

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.