Speaking at “Majlis Singapura,” Bhatia dwelt at length on the striking similarities and the business dynamism of the two global cities.

The topic of the event was “The Singapore-Dubai South Asian Diaspora Wealth Corridor.” The keynote speaker was Ambassador Gopinath Pillai, Chairman of the Institute of South Asian Studies of Singapore, Executive Chairman of Savant InfoComm and Ambassador-at-Large of Singapore.

Other speakers included V. Shankar, group executive director and CEO of Standard Chartered for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Americas; Arif Naqvi, founder and Group CEO of the Abraaj Group; Avishesha Bhojani, chairman of International Management Ventures; Mohan Valrani, founding partner of Al Shirawi Group of Companies; Mahesh Menda, chairman World of Electricals; and Professor Tan Tai Yong of the National University of Singapore.

Bhatia said while Singapore is a key global city in East and South East Asia. the UAE serves a similar role in West Asia, Central Asia and beyond.

“Today both Singapore and Dubai in the UAE are thriving hubs and havens of security. Attracting global trade and investment flows, each offers quality of life and lives of quality in their regions,” he said.

The Singapore envoy pointed out that as global cities that flank either side of the Indian sub-continent, both Dubai and Singapore have also long served as important hubs in their respective regions for the South Asian Diaspora business community. “Opportunities abound for the business communities in both Dubai and Singapore,” he said.

“A few years ago, London School of Economics Professor Danny Quah calculated that in 1980 the world’s economic centre of gravity was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Using mathematical models, he forecast that by 2050 the focus of global economic activity based on GDP would shift eastwards to lie between China and India. This is precisely the Dubai-Mumbai-Singapore-Shanghai wealth corridor,” Bhatia said.

A closer look brings into focus the many similarities shared by Dubai and Singapore.

He said historically, both Singapore and Dubai emerged from humble beginnings. Both were originally simple trading settlements, with Dubai rising near its shallow creek, and Singapore founded near the mouth of its main river.

“Singapore’s founding ideas were simple—to protect property, to enforce contracts and to open its doors for the movement of goods and of people. A few simple organizing ideas and immediately, money and people and goods and services flowed in and the Singapore grew very rapidly. From an “improbable nation” with little chance of survival at birth, Singapore bloomed into Asia’s first global city,” said Bhatia.

To develop the Middle East’s first global city, Dubai deepened its creek and just like Singapore flourished on the backbone of free trade, entrepot functions and a bustling port. The twin beliefs of “build it and they will come” and “what is good for business is good for Dubai” set the emirate apart early on, he said.

Bhatia pointed out that as global cities that flank either side of the Indian sub-continent, both Singapore and Dubai have long served as important hubs in their respective regions for the South Asian Diaspora business community. The opportunities for the business communities in both Dubai and Singapore are manifold with many synergies that remain to be tapped.

Speakers at the 3^rd Majlis Singapura addressed some of these opportunities, and examined the shaping of a Dubai-Singapore wealth corridor for the South Asian Diaspora, and also explored how both communities could contribute to a virtuous cycle of complementary growth for the emirate of Dubai and the city-state of Singapore. The Majlis was part of a prelude to the two-day South Asian Diaspora Convention to take place in Singapore from 21-22 November at the Suntec City Convention Centre.