Page 121 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

Silicon from Sand: Essential Background on the GCC 105

business-friendly environment. While being open for business is in
some ways a long-standing attitude in the UAE—and especially in
Dubai—measures taken in recent years have had a tremendous
impact in transforming the country’s business environment.
As illustrated in Figure 4.1, four main strategies have been
actively managed in order to drive the open-for-business environ-
ment that marks the UAE and especially Dubai.

Figure 4.1 Creating the UAE’s open-for-business environment

Active Government Investment

The first—and arguably the most critical—strategy has been active
government investment in the local economy. While the GCC’s oil
states have overall been net exporters of capital, Dubai has invested
its relatively modest oil income in development of its business
infrastructure and environment. This long-term strategy, sustained
through the administrations of Sheikhs Rashid (1958–90), Maktoum
(1990–2006), and now Mohammed (2006–present), has consisted of
an investment scope that begins with infrastructure but expands
ambitiously to a broad set of other industries.
Although far less glamorous than later investments by the
government of Dubai, bread-and-butter infrastructure spending
has been essential to the emirate’s success. The government’s