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Dubai’s USPs

There seems to be a shared belief that Dubai has a major asset and that is a matured infrastructure. Things are in place and things work. The recent survey done by a well known real estate company echoes these sentiments and indicates that it is this developed ‘extra space’ that will stop being ‘extra’ over the next few years and convert into a power-packed incentive for anyone planning to invest in the country or start up a new project.

At this moment, there may be a relative sense of vacancy but with the state-of-the- art communications, transportation, aviation and standard of living that has not only been maintained but has been enhanced even as the world lay in a fiscal slump the u-turn is now very much on the cards.

There is no doubt that Dubai has a very strong branding and predicates its success on the seven ‘S’ factor: safety, security, shopping, sport, style, systems and standards, something that has continued unabated and become a global byword.

A very telling indicator is the steadiness shown in the education sector. After all, that is the future generation; therefore the obvious signpost of what that future holds. The New York Times has carried an illuminating report on how the number of students in the UAE has risen rather than fallen and that international educational institutions with branches in the emirates that stayed through the early days have prospered. Indeed, in the halcyon days Dubai had only four campuses. Now it is over 30 hi-tech groves of academia.

Perhaps, the other major element in the incredible success story that gives Dubai a leading edge against other island states like Singapore or Hong Kong (with due awareness of its integrity with China) is that geographically this place is ideally positioned and has an east-west balance at its command. That makes it a natural hub and bridge for lengthwise and across the two hemispheres as well. The early realisation that aviation would be the engine for swift development was a brilliant move and it has paid off in tangible terms.

While there may be a current gap between the demand and supply for both office and home space and also for industrial usage and storage the general feeling now is that Dubai has the resilience and the confidence to not just see it through, but ensure that it is in the forefront of choices when the ring comes around again.