I had the opportunity to travel to Dubai, this
month and I would like to share some of my learnings through this editorial. In
addition to the other things that impressed me like the booming growth in
infrastructure and the list of biggest and tallest structures coming up there,
what striked me most was the astonishing fact that the crime rate in this country was less than
1%. Well, the simple rule here is, if any one was caught robbing, his hands
were chopped off and if someone was caught for eve teasing, he was given fifty
lashes, which he will never be able to forget for fifty years. All this sounds like
cruelty, but is it that the human mind can be disciplined only by fear. It
sounds so!!!
This country has only 17% of the native
population (the Arabs), and the rest being migrants across the world, mostly
from India, who have come to make a living. Foreigners cannot get a citizenship
neither own land in this country. This makes the rental income lucrative for
the natives, who build huge commercial complexes and residential buildings.
Recently,
they have built a island called the PALM Jumeira. Foreigners can buy property,
in this island. The approx cost of a house here will be 1.5 million dhirams. 1
Dhiram=Rs. 12.25/-. Inspite of this exorbitant cost, this island was sold out
in 72 hours from time of announcement.
That shows the amount of interest foreigner have in this country. One
more interesting fact about this island is that this is considered as the 8th
world wonder, because, this is the only man made island that is visible from
space. Adding to this astonishing news, I was informed two similar projects
PALM Jebeleli (4 times bigger than the existing one) and PALMS Deira (8 times
bigger than the existing one) is under construction and will be open for sale
in 2008 and 2012, respectively.
Contrary to popular opinion that this country
is rich, only because of its oil resources, I came to know that only 15% of
Dubai’s income comes from oil and the
balance comes from a variety of trading activities, tourist income and most
importantly visa income. As citizenship is not granted to foreigner, they work
on work permit visa and this visa income is a major earner for this country. As
the earning here are absolutely tax free, it makes it a haven for workers to
work and save money here.
I had the opportunity to meet and have
breakfast with the richest Indian in UAE, Mr.B.R.Shetty. This man went to UAE
40 years ago as a medical representative and today he owns the largest hospital
there, named the New Medical Centre. His major business is the foreign currency
exchange , in addition to the many other business he owns. The Indians working
there, support the families back in India or make investments in India to the
tune of US$ 20 billion/ year. This is the amount of money transferred by
Indians living in UAE to India.
It is a proud moment to know that Indians flourish
everywhere, and especially in UAE, they are well respected because of their
sincerity and commitment to work. No matter where they live, they always the
carry the spirit of India and try to do something for the home country.
There is a lot more to say about this country,
which really enthralled me, by its vibrancy and the speed of growth. For
limitation of space, I end here.
Happy Reading,
D. Senthil Kannan
Article Dated Mar 2007
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