REFLECTIONS ON A RECENT TRIP TO DUBAI

I live in Nice in the South of France which I consider probably the best place to live in the world. It has a great climate, beautiful architecture, an international airport, proximity to mountains and beautiful countryside and is close to Italy. It is not, however, the best place to work given the limited economic activity in the region. Monaco is quite a dynamic but very small financial centre, Sophia Antipolis is no longer the Silicon Valley of Europe and the number of well-sized international companies can be counted on two hands. So where is the best place to work? In the last year, I’ve travelled to four locations which could be potential candidates in terms of renown and international significance: New York, London, Singapore and Dubai. 

I was in New York last year after quite a long absence and was extremely shocked by the state of the city. Many of the hotels were closed to house illegal immigrants and the area in front of these hotels was filled with people lying down with their belongings. The streets were full of homeless people, some of whom appeared quite aggressive. There were shops selling soft drugs on every corner with the smell of marijuana pervading everywhere. Apparently, things have improved since the election of Trump, like him or not, and several other cities are in a worse situation but the week I spent in America’s economic capital didn’t make me want to move there.

My trip to London was more recent and I travel there quite often. Indeed, I lived there for several years some time ago. London is still a great city but I was shocked by the array of tents on Park Lane housing illegal immigrants and by the aggressive nature of the demonstrations in favour of Palestine on Oxford Street. The city seems to be out of control to a certain extent, the melting pot seems to have melted. The rents in London, as in New York, have become increasingly prohibitive and I’m not sure that the inhabitants are getting value for money. Furthermore, the current government seems to be doing everything to discourage wealth creators and entrepreneurs from remaining in the country. 

Singapore is a different proposition and I spent a week there in July. The success of this city state is impressive and it remains a very liveable location. However, it’s become extremely expensive and probably more so than London or New York. The only places I know where prices are comparable would be Geneva or Zurich. The marina area and centre are stunning but the rest of the city is rather ordinary. I was expecting more of a buzz in the business area but perhaps I was there at the wrong time with many people being away on holiday. I also have the impression that the country has lost a certain amount of dynamism since Covid which was a particularly difficult time for the population. There seem to be more restrictions in place now for visas and opening companies, together with a tighter regulatory environment.

As for Dubai, I have just got back from spending a week over there for the first time in three years. I was totally blown away by the “buzz” which I’ve probably never experienced anywhere else to such a degree. I landed at midnight yet the airport and roads were full. I left in the early hours of the morning yet the airport and roads were similarly full. At the airport, immigration is automated but, because I had a new passport, I had to be processed by one of the immigration officers. He was clothed in traditional Arab dress with a stern, bearded face. But as I approached, he gave me a big smile and welcomed me to Dubai. This was a pleasant change from that way I’m usually greeted at immigration in the US where the default attitude is to treat you as a would-be criminal. It was also a foretaste of the friendliness and hospitality shown to me by everybody I met in Dubai.

Everywhere you go, there are new buildings being erected and new roads being built. Every business leader you meet has growth plans and is confident about the future. Indeed, the only negative factor mentioned by almost everyone is the level of traffic and how long it takes to commute from one area to another, with the DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre) being the worst culprit. Coming from Europe, it was such a pleasure to be surrounded by so much optimism and so many smiling faces. There are issues, of course, and a definite underbelly of immigrant workers who are not sharing fairly in this vast creation of wealth. Yet, I never experienced any aggression and felt much safer here than in New York, London or even Singapore. 

There are, of course, question marks about the future. The state wants to increase the population from four million to almost six million by 2040, but how will they manage the infrastructure for such an influx of people? They seem to be struggling to find solutions for the current population with public transport being embryonic and a US-like dependence on cars. The government does have plans to improve the infrastructure but will they succeed? As the country grows, will they have to bow more to external pressure and increase regulations in the way that Singapore and more mature economies have done (indeed Dubai was very much built on the Singaporean model and may suffer subsequently from the same effects)? Will the immigrant workers start to demand more rights and higher salaries, potentially increasing social tension and maybe leading to certain violent acts? Will the cost of living continue to increase as more people arrive and labour costs rise? Or is this a bubble and will the property market collapse, as has happened in the past, leading to a recession? Will the political situation in the Middle East become more volatile encouraging the wealthy to look for safer havens?

In spite of all these question marks, Dubai is an extremely attractive place to work at the moment, offering more career opportunities than any other major financial centre that I can think of. To live the high life over there (in Palm Jumeirah or the Marina area for example) is very expensive, but the cost of living elsewhere can be quite reasonable if you live away from the centre and avoid the “flashy” establishments. Compared to most of the other locations where Norman Alex has an office, hotels and restaurants in Dubai remain good value for money. It’s also relatively simple to set up a company and not too expensive unless you need office space in the DIFC where prices have started to rival New York and London. I won’t be moving there myself, but I think it should be a destination of choice for anyone interested in developing their career in a dynamic environment.

Written by Ivor ALEX CEO at Norman Alex