Tea Trumps Towers as Dubai Maps Way Back to Future as Trade Hub

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At Unilever’s Lipton Tea factory near Dubai’s main port, rows of machines convert leaves from Kenya and India into a million tea bags an hour destined for breakfast tables from South Africa to Canada.

“By bringing in tea here, we are close to the market, so we blend it fast, pack it fast,” said Sanjiv Mehta, Unilever’s chairman for North Africa and Middle East, in an interview at the factory, the world’s second-biggest. “And because of the logistics here being very efficient, we’re able to quickly move it to the consumer markets.”

Dubai is spending $13 billion on building a new international airport and expanding existing air and shipping terminals. The ruling Al Maktoum family is focusing on the emirate’s traditional strength as a trade hub, after borrowing $109 billion to build record skyscrapers and man-made islands led to the world’s worst property crash last year.