Counting the Cost

Dubai’s comeback?

We look if Dubai is really back on track after the debt crisis, plus the Paris motor show.

When my business editor told me the quote “we are back!” had come from the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

It is the kind of confident and bold statement we have come to expect from Dubai over the years, but it also made me wonder if the emirate and its ruler had learnt anything from last year’s debt crisis.

Look back through the CTC archives … you’ll see plenty of shows about Dubai World, the state-owned property and investment company, which came spectactuarly unstuck last year when it announced it couldn’t pay its debts.

It made the announcement right on the eve of a major Muslim holiday period, and then had to scramble to save face while the markets plummeted and confidence in Dubai went with it.

Now, after some successful debt restructuring and capital raising by the Dubai government, the word from the top is that Dubai is back. Isn’t that a little hasty? 

Any sceptic out there should watch our show this week. We are featuring the property glut, not just in Dubai but Doha too, and how it may affect the region going forward.

There’s a suggestion that vacancy rates could be as high as 50 per cent in the next year or so – half of Dubai’s office space empty! That’s worrying in anyone’s language … and to this reporter, not a sign that anyone or anything is “back”.

Paris Motor Show

Also very pleased to have two major players from the automotive industry on CTC this week. Nick Reilly, the head of GM in Europe, last spoke to us in March from the Geneva Car Show … so we’ll see exactly where he thinks the industry is now.

And here’s an exciting one – Carl Peter Foster, the CEO of India’s Tata Motors, one of the most intriguing and important players in the game. So keep an eye out for all that too.

See you on the TV, and don’t forget to get in touch on twitter – just search for @AJCountingCost.

Counting the Cost can be seen each week at the following times GMT: Friday: 1430, 2030; Saturday: 0430, 1230, 1900; Sunday: 0130, 1630; Monday: 0830; Tuesday: 0600.