Understanding the success of the Dubai economy

Sir Christopher Wren who rebuilt London after the Great Fire of 1666 is said to have remarked: 'If you seek my monument look around.' The builders of modern Dubai will soon be able to say very much the same thing for the $100 billion plus of construction projects in progress is going to transform this city.

Or to be more specific, the same may be said of Dubai Crown Prince General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the visionary leader of Dubai. It is unpopular these days to ascribe too much to the work of one man.

A personal vision

But anyone who has watched Dubai's development will admit that the very rapid development of Dubai into a Hong Kong or Singapore style regional business hub is down to Sheikh Mohammed's personal vision and leadership.

It is typical that a newly formed Roads and Transport Authority to tackle the city's growing traffic problems is to come under the chairmanship of Sheikh Mohammed. If there is a problem he will always give a proactive personal response.

The traffic situation also illustrates that even a brilliant visionary can slip up now and again. It would have been better if the problem had been anticipated but this is the next best thing.

Sheikh Mohammed's vision also builds on a very solid tradition of high levels of organic growth and a commitment to keeping the city a great place to do business that goes back to his father, the equally farsighted Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum who built the Jebel Ali Free Zone and Trade Centre tower in the late 1970s.

But the acceleration of Dubai's growth with a whole series of new free zones - for every conceivable type of trade and service sector - is his son's initiative. From finance to commodities and media and technology, Dubai has a free zone for every business, guaranteeing red-tape free activity and swift access to regional markets.

At the same time, Dubai has developed a transportation network second to none in the region, and substantially ahead of any rival. The Jebel Ali Free Zone is one part and the Dubai International Airport and Emirates Airline are another. This makes it easy to travel from Dubai to regional offices and to re-export goods.

The genius of Sheikh Mohammed has been to launch an immense number of new development projects at a time when the region is undergoing an oil boom. This has meant that Dubai has scooped up the lion's share of investment in new projects, as well as prospering on the back of enhanced trade.

At some point this expansion has to take a setback. But Dubai has weathered many ups and downs in the fortunes of the Middle East, and has always rebounded faster than many expected. For the moment all roads lead to Dubai in the Middle East, and the commercial capital of the region is under construction.