Dubai dream turns sour as job losses mount: Dawn

DUBAI: Dubai's rapid expansion in recent years provided jobs for millions. But the global financial meltdown has abruptly ended the dream for many people as more and more firms sack staff to cut costs.

Spectacular economic growth, spurred by a robust construction sector, lured people from far and wide to the booming city on the shores of the Gulf, tempted by high pay, low tax and -- for many Europeans -- the year-round sunshine.

Foreigners form most of the population in Dubai and with residency permits linked to employment many of the people who are losing their jobs face the added upheaval of leaving the country.

‘I don't feel that I was wronged. This is business... But I would have preferred a cut in my salary rather than being sacked,’ said an Arab man who was let go by government-controlled property group Nakheel.

Another former Nakheel employee: ‘Only four days before we were given the termination letter, our director told us in a meeting that the situation was very difficult and that the budget for our project had been cut by nearly three quarters.‘It was too quick,’ said the 30-year-old employee who was sacked at the end of November as one of 500 employees -- 15 per cent of the workforce -- who lost their jobs.

Nakheel has its fingerprints on most of Dubai's iconic projects, including three palm-shaped artificial islands and a cluster of islands in the shape of a world map.

It unveiled in early October another gigantic project to erect a one kilometre high tower, which, if ever built, would dwarf the unfinished Burj Dubai, currently standing around 700 metres (765 yards) high.

Property sold like hot cakes for the past few years but demand has slumped amid the global credit crunch as panicking investors and creditors fled the market.

All of sudden, the viability of the grandiose property projects has become questionable.
Nakheel's job cuts programme is one of the largest so far in the United Arab Emirates, but is far from the only one.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Dubai dream turns sour as job losses mount: Dawn

Pakistanis worried about UAE investments: The News

Friday, December 12, 2008
By Faryal Najeeb

KARACHI: Pakistani real estate investors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are not the only ones to have lost out heavily on their investments, for many well-off Pakistani families looking towards owning a home in the pearl of the desert are now in a lurch as construction for several projects has stopped due to the financial crunch the Arab country is facing.

One Pakistani investor, Waleed Mughal who had invested in a residential project is “worried to death” over what would happen now as he had made plans to move out of his rented villa and take up residence in his own home once completed.He expressed that the freehold developers had promised to complete the project by early 2010 and he had invested heavily in owning an apartment. “Now the project is 80 per cent complete but the future of the remaining 20 per cent is uncertain. Despite repeated queries, I haven’t received any response on what is likely to happen next,” he articulated.

Many others like Waleed are in the same dilemma as the freehold properties of UAE promised world class luxuries and were priced for the same. Not being professional investors, and digging in to their savings to make their dreams come true, these families are now completely distressed.According to a real estate expert’s analysis, the UAE real estate market has already declined by 22 per cent and a further 17 per cent of the downfall is expected before the year ends.

While local investors have been left severely wounded by the losses they experienced there, which run in millions and billions of rupees, many families dreaming of Dubai as their second home and having permanent residency are now pale with fear over their investments.“Though the UAE government continues to decline the fact, several projects in the country have come to a standstill” informs a real estate expert from UAE. He shares that the Arab country claims that the projects have simply slowed down and all will be well by the beginning of the new year, but the reality is far from it.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistanis worried about UAE investments: The News

Opportunities for Pakistan in the Global Financial Slump: Economistan

FREE MARKETS: Many opportunities abound for countries like Pakistan due to the dynamics of the essential commodity prices coupled with low shipping rates. Time to harness these to our advantage.

By Saad Sarwar Muhammad

Monday, November 17, 2008

The whole world is undergoing a major financial crisis which has caused the downturn of almost all the developed world economies with job losses, bailouts and financial losses becoming the order of the day. In such unprecedented times of financial trouble the developed world is looking towards developing countries with huge reserves and financial muscle. Countries like China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey fit the bill. They were invited in the recently held summit of the G-20 to help the developed economies recover from the slump and in some way bail out the developed countries from the fiasco they are in.

The world has been undergoing a rollercoaster ride when it comes to the prices of different commodities, the stock market index levels and the value of dollar and yen versus other major currencies. Oil and Gold are two commodities that have hit a nosedive in recent times. Iran has reportedly given the intent to convert its reserves into Gold in order to overcome the deficit that can result in the reduction of price of oil. The value of dollar and yen is soaring at a time against major European currencies giving the indication of more trust in the resilience of the US economy as compared to the EU.

Pakistan has been suffering its own financial crisis lately, which somehow seems unrelated to the recent global recession. Pakistan’s problems have mostly been homegrown based on the energy crisis due to shortage of alternative energy power sources such as hydel, wind, solar and to some extent nuclear. Pakistan’s financial crisis has resulted from the withdrawal of funds from Pakistan’s stock market, the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) since the coming of the new civilian government. Pakistan’s stock market, KSE, has lost close to $36 billion dollars this year in market capitalization. Resultantly, the Pakistani rupee has also borne the brunt with the value of rupee falling from around 60 to a dollar from the beginning of the year to around 80 to a dollar at the moment (many currency dealers have also been arrested in the wake of the rupee devaluation, famous among them the firm of Khanani and Kalia). Not to mention the floor imposed on the KSE to allow the stock market to breathe a sigh of relief. The sigh has converted to deep sleep as the floor remains imposed after many many weeks.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Opportunities for Pakistan in the Global Financial Slump: Economistan