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Dubai World back on track: Shaikh Ahmed

DUBAI — Dubai finalised the restructuring of Dubai World in record time and is very confident of achieving similar results for Dubai Holding, a top government official said.

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“It is no secret that we are currently looking at Dubai Holding, which is facing challenges in some of its assets and international investments,” Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai’s Supreme Fiscal Committee, told the media at the Dubai Economic Update Forum on Sunday.

The forum was organised by the Dubai Media Office to provide an update on the state of the economy and commercial activity in Dubai, as well as give a summary of the restructuring process that has taken place over the past 11 months at Dubai World.

Shaikh Ahmed said Dubai World is now on a sound financial footing, and is fully refocused on its core business, which invariably will improve the long-term value of its assets for the benefit of all its stakeholders.

“The restructuring of Dubai World... was finalised in a record 10 months and is now well into its implementation phase,” he added.

“The challenges in Dubai Holding are in no way of the magnitude seen at Dubai World. They are being addressed seriously and with diligence. We are very confident that similar results to those seen at Dubai World will be achieved here too,” said Shaikh Ahmed, who is also the President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman and Chief Excutive of Emirates airline and Group.

Dubai Holding has some very good assets and investments, such as Jumeirah and Tecom, that are integral to the company and that continue to support it, Shaikh Ahmed said.

He said the confidence stems from the knowledge that today Dubai is more competitive than ever.

Thanks to its state-of-the-art infrastructure, significant investments in healthcare and education, advanced regulatory framework for trade and financial services, and for its available and affordable quality real estate, he added.

Dubai’s renewed competitiveness is already apparent in the continued growth in its population and in the number of businesses it continues to attract, according to Shaikh Ahmed.

The global investment community’s confidence in Dubai’s ability to compete was further evidenced when the government and some of its related entities re-entered the capital markets immediately after the success of the Dubai World restructuring in September and succeeded. Following a long period of significant infrastructure investment, Dubai is now ideally positioned to reap the benefits of such investments, he said.

“I ask you all to, like us, keep your focus on the future. Because the future in Dubai is bright,” Shaikh Ahmed told the media.

“The slowdown that took place over the past two years gave us in Dubai the opportunity to rethink, regroup, and return to basics in order to leverage on our core, tried and tested competitive edge,” he said.

“We continue to work on improving the business environment in Dubai. We are making good corporate governance our priority.”

Government continues to invest in the education and in the training of the country’s population, Shaikh Ahmed said.

“We are preparing our next generation of industry leaders.”

abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com