Has the UAE witnessed the "Green Shoots" of transparency, in the past week?

(Hopefully this, my second attempt at commentary, will be formatted correctly. My error, previously, was not accepting the automatic guidance of Blogger!)

It has been interesting following the fortunes of two US politicians: Governor Kaine travelled to Dubai, via Israel, and has been applauded by friend and foe alike; whereas Mayor Fenty travelled to Dubai, and attended the Ladies Tennis Tournament, which an Israeli Passport Holder was not granted a visa to compete in.

As the Washington Post highlights: Governor Kaine publically disclosed his plans, including the subsidised cost of travel, ahead of departing; whereas Mayor Fenty, whose trip was also subsidised, specifically by The Government of UAE, appeared to depart furtively and gave no coherent explanation when questioned after the event!

A difference in communication styles, with entirely different results, congratulations for Governor Kaine, chastisement for Mayor Fenty!

Here in the UAE, Finsbury's recent appointment appears to be bearing fruit, Nasser Al Shaikh spoke very fluently on Tuesday about the Dubai Government Bond and I have not heard one critical comment about his, relative for the region, candour.

Taking the Mayor Fenty role, in Dubai, is Nakheel which hides behind the mask of "supplier confidentiality", so I am reliant on my own contacts who confirm Nakheel are processing payments, but only at a rate of 75%, over an unquantified period of time. (If anybody from Nakheel reads this blog, do feel free to post a comment, none of which are moderated or deleted.)

So "green shoots" of transparency are appearing in Dubai, but this past week certainly surprised many, when the Federal Capital of UAE, Abu Dhabi, moved well ahead in the transparency "green shoot" stakes.

Mubadala issued an 84 page document, detailing the 2008 performance of its activities, where are those commentators who were critical of Sovereign Wealth Funds non-disclosure only 15 months ago, when I researched this article?

Possibly other GCC Institutions will follow Abu Dhabi's lead in disclosure,but such expectations must be tempered by the fact there is no statutory obligation to undertake such disclosure, which underlines the ground breaking nature of Mubadala's 2008 Accounts.

As there are Fenty's and Kaine's everywhere, so it proves to be the case for Abu Dhabi, but as I state quite clearly this is not a social commentary blog and would direct you here.