Page 122 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

106 Dubai & Co.

investment in Port Rashid and in developing the Dubai Creek (an
important waterway snaking through the city) during the 1970s set
a trend of sustained focus on transportation infrastructure. In 1980,
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the massive Jebel Ali Port—costing $3 billion to build —propelled
the emirate’s shipping capabilities to a new level. Jebel Ali was able
to receive and re-export goods from the Far East, South Asia,
Europe, and Africa in unprecedented volumes, and could accom-
modate the increasingly massive container ships favored by the
shipping industry. Dubai’s global leadership in ports management
and its prominent Dubai Ports World company can trace their roots
to these investments. Jebel Ali created real trade flows, distinct from
oil, which laid the groundwork for onshore economic development.
Many insiders therefore credit Jebel Ali—the massive, boring zone
of shipping containers—for driving Dubai’s long-term develop-
ment more than sleek and glitzy assets like the world-famous,
“seven-star” Burj al-Arab hotel.
Equally important, UAE governments have extended their
investment scope beyond their core infrastructure sectors such as
transportation, power, and telecommunications in order to include
those sectors, such as media and health care, that are becoming ever
more essential in the twenty-first century. Dubai has led the way
with its Internet and Media Cities, Health Care City, Knowledge
Village, and a host of other similar ventures. In addition, the
massive Dubailand project, planned to be twice the size of Disney
World, aims to spur the booming tourism industry even further.
Abu Dhabi is developing a major free zone on its Saadiyat Island,
whose goal is to span a broad range of industry and service sectors
including manufacturing, hotels, financial services, and even
agriculture. Sharjah has its own Hamriya Free Zone, Ajman has the
Ajman Free Zone, and Fujairah has a Free Trade Zone (FTZ). Ras al-
Khaimah’s equivalent—the RAK FTZ—is growing rapidly and
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positioning itself as a “stress-free zone,” subtly contrasting itself
with its increasingly crowded and expensive counterparts in Dubai.
Abu Dhabi, which has long focused its investment activity
outside the region, has recently undertaken significantly more local
endeavors through various vehicles. Mubadala, a major investment
platform for the emirate, has invested in shipping and ship termi-
nals, as well as the local IT sector, training and education, and
health care. One noteworthy local investment is a project to create a