Dubai – shareholder state?

Here are a few facts of note:

1. Dubai is expected to run out of oil by 2010.  Oil is already less than seven percent of gdp.

2. The city diversified by creating low-tax, low-regulation, free trade zones.

3. The three most trusted associates to the Sheikh are also the city’s three leading businessmen and three leading real estate magnates.

4. Dubai is constructing what will be the world’s tallest building, and perhaps also the world’s second tallest building.  The city claims to have the world’s largest shopping center (disputable).

5. The city is growing about fourteen percent a year.

6. Eighty percent of the population is expats.

7. UAE (Dubai is a part of it) is ranked 137th in the world on press freedom.

See The Financial Times, 13 July 2005.  And did I mention that I am here in Dubai now?  It is, after all, on the way to Singapore.

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