Donald Trump: the ultimate Dubai endorsement?

Nowhere in the Middle East will be more transformed by the oil boom of the early 21st century than Dubai. And the arrival of US billionaire and self-publicist Donald Trump is exactly the kind of international endorsement that this city now merits.

Donald Trump once wrote a book called 'The Art of the Deal' so it is likely that he struck a pretty tough bargain in Dubai. But when New York's leading property developer moves into a city this has to be big news; Mr. Trump after all has made his fortune by being ahead of the game.

So what does he see in Dubai, apart from more self-publicity? But to be fair his Dubai deal will not be big news in the USA. Surely Mr. Trump is attracted by the high margins available to hotel owners in Dubai, and the chance to secure a prime piece of real estate in the world's fastest growing city.

For Dubai residents coping daily with long traffic queues and the nuisance of constant construction this may not seem such a wonderful thing. But Dubai has now earned its place on the world stage, and nothing succeeds like success.

It attracts successful people like Donald Trump who then attract others in their turn. Now at some point this seemingly endless development boom has to take a breather, if only to allow some of the concrete trucks to reach their construction sites on time.

Will the boom end?

But calling an end to the Dubai boom has become a bit of a joke among long term expatriates, some of whom have been waiting for 20 years for things to calm down.

For Dubai is becoming another Singapore or Hong Kong - an international city serving a much wider and less hospitable region. If you go back in time then Singapore and Hong Kong were once little more than coastal villages.

The same kind of energy, rampant capitalism and visionary leadership that transformed these cities is also evident in Dubai. That this coincides with a period when oil money is flowing freely in the Middle East explains why there is quite such an extraordinary rush of development in Dubai right now.

Mr. Trump is no fool. He knows real estate goes in cycles, and has suffered badly in previous slumps. Indeed, when he addressed the 'Leaders in Dubai' event recently Mr. Trump said he did not expect to be enjoying such fame and fortune in a few years' time.

But Donald Trump has survived the ups and downs of the real estate industry, and so will Dubai. That is perhaps ultimately why Mr. Trump is happy to invest in this city.