By naming Ahmed Humaid al-Tayer as the new head of the Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai has put on a new face that it hopes will convey a new-found caution and dispel its image of recklessness.
The appointment of Tayer, 59, who has served in government for more than 30 years and is a prominent local businessman, is a message to investors at home and abroad that, following the financial crisis, Dubai has learnt from its mistakes and is turning over a new leaf.
"Tayer's appointment indicates that the city is intent to deal with the aftermath of the financial crisis in a different way," said politics professor Abdulkhaleq Abdulla.
Ah yes, a new cautious approach - placing the very able Chairman of Emirates NBD in the position of Governor of DIFC. And Emirates NBD aren't suffering at all due to Saudi exposure in the region of $350M - all very cautious obviously.
ReplyDeleteYour cynicism is to be expected.
ReplyDeleteWith the changes in leadership/influence, I do believe the ostrich like behaviour, exhibited from commentators to Executives in Dubai, is now behind us.
The hoped for next stage, in my opinion, is to consolidate the overblown corporate entities within "Dubai Inc"!
Istithmar and it's numerous underwater projects, as covered in this blog, is a prime candidate, along with the Executive body, which is guilty of behaving like a schoolboy on a visit to the sweetshop, on pocketmoney day!