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Population: 997,000
Area: 35 sq km (15 sq mi)
Country: United Arab Emirates
Emirate: Dubai
Time Zone: GMT/UTC plus 4 hours
A Little History
Dubai is a cosmopolitan melting pot at the crossroads of time - and
the quintessential home of sand, sea, sun and shopping. A century ago,
it was a tranquil town along the banks of Dubai Creek, where coral-and-gypsum
huts housed Bedouin traders and pearl divers. Today, the merchants have
gone international, their bounty calling forth science-fiction style
skyscrapers from the sand to stand alongside the mosques and wind towers
of old Dubai.
The audacity of the city's rulers is breathtaking. Running out of coastline
to build hotels? Build vast artificial islands with 120km of new beachfront.
Need better connections with the world? Build up an award-winning international
airline in 15 years. Need some publicity? Stage the world's richest horse
race, million-dollar lotteries, international tennis and golf tournaments,
and a month-long shopping festival. Need a few landmarks for people to
recognise? Up goes the world's tallest and most lavish hotel, perched
on an artificial platform, or better yet, the more recent proposal of
the world's tallest building, Burj Dubai.
Tradition of Trade
Dubai originated as a small trading port located at the mouth of Dubai
Creek, which today runs through the centre of Dubai. By the turn of the
20th century Dubai's budding prosperity attracted settlers from Iran
and India when the city's souk (market) was thought to have been the
largest on the coast. An established tradition of trade and free enterprise
created a natural haven for the region's merchant class.
International trade formed the foundation of Dubai's rapidly increasing
riches. This commerce gave the city an early start in development before
the beginning of oil production in the late 1960s. While the oil industry
facilitated its growth, Dubai's oil revenue has always been a fraction
of that of Abu Dhabi, one of its sister cities. Dubai's growth and success
are as much products of the entrepreneurial spirit of its people as its
rich natural resources.
Free Zones
The largest urban development outside of Dubai city is the industrial
complex of Jebel Ali, which lies 20 kilometers south-west on the coast.
Here, the Government has built the largest man-made harbour in the world,
with a dredged deepwater approach channel stretching out to sea. It is
also the largest free-trade zone in greater Arabia. Other free zones
were established throughout the UAE to attract foreign investment and
spur commercial activity. Companies who establish themselves in a free
zone can operate with no service charges or fees, no import and export
duties, and enjoy some of the lowest tariffs in the region. In addition,
companies can be 100 percent foreign-owned, can attain 100 percent repatriation
of capital and profits, and pay no personal income tax or corporate tax.
Currently, Dubai has three free zones:
the first and newest free zone is the Dubai Technology, Electronic Commerce
and Media Free Zone (TECOM) (which includes Dubai Internet City, Dubai
Media City and Dubai Idea Oasis)
Business districts that are home to hundreds of global companies. Dubai
Internet City, the e-commerce hub of the region, is the first complete
information technology and telecommunications centre in the world to
be built inside a free-trade zone. It offers modern, full-service office
space with cutting-edge technologies that cater to the specific needs
of the new economy companies that reside there.
Dubai Media City serves the same purpose for media outlets that have
offices in Dubai. Media City opened with more than 50 media outlets in
residence, representing all facets of the media community. These outlets
include: Reuters, the world's largest news agency; CNBC and CNN, the
global news broadcasters; and MBC, the popular Arabic satellite channel.
The second and largest
free zone, Jebel Ali Free Zone, is the premiere location for manufacturing
and distribution and is home to more than
2,000 companies from about 97 countries including Black & Decker,
Daewoo, Honda, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, Nissan, Philips, Samsung,
Sony, Nokia, Daimler Chrysler and Toshiba.
The Dubai Airport Free Zone is the third free zone and plays an integral
role in emirate's plan to expand Dubai International Airport. The free
zone is located next to the airport and offers companies unparalleled
infrastructure, digital communications and reliable power in what is
quickly becoming one of the region's most important distribution hubs.
Present and Future
Today, Dubai is home to an international airport with more than 70 airlines
serving more than 110 cities worldwide; more than 200 international business
offices; and award-winning hotels. With a population that is 90 percent
foreign-born and more than 150 languages spoken within its borders, Dubai
is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. Tourism along with
the population is rapidly growing in Dubai. Presently, the number of
projects either proposed or under progress in and around Dubai should
more than double the size of this city in the next few years!
What's in store for the future of dubai? We can't predict the future,
we can only watch it as its happening, right here at Project Dubai!
Watch
Dubai grow!
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