FT.com / In depth - ‘It was right to call for a standstill’

Mohammed al-Shaibani, director of the court of Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, speaks to the Financial Times. The interview was conducted by FT Editor Lionel Barber with Roula Khalaf, Middle East editor, and Simeon Kerr, the FT’s Dubai correspondent. Following and headline link above are exerpts from the interview.

Financial Times: Let’s start with what you think you’ve done a year on since the announcement that the government was requesting a standstill on debt repayment at Dubai World and what you think there’s still to do.

MS: We have to realise, we have to accept there are a lot of challenges in the whole process and there are still a lot of challenges on the way. So definitely, this is not a so called a cakewalk. The whole world is going through a lot of crisis. Each time we say things are, it’s over something comes up whether it’s government issues or company related issues. But looking back almost a year now we are more than, how can I say, confident that it was the right decision to call for a standstill and look at the situation of that company and come up with a more comprehensive specific plan that can meet all the requirements and also analyse all the complexities of that company.