Laughing against all odds
Financial crisis! Who is going to save Dubai? That is the title of one of the announced articles of the lastes edition of “zenith” (03/09). In the course of the conversation with Sultan BinNasser al-Sawaidi there is not the slightest hint of a real crisis. “The (the inhabitants of Dubai) do not consume much …”. And: “Automotive trade is especially concerned.”
I wonder about it. A little research on the internet provides me with new information. After all – it is here. The financial crisis in Dubai in 2009. There is rumour of a mountain of debt of 84 mio Euros. Did Mr. al-Sawaidi miss out on that or were the questions imprecise?
Interestingly enough in January even the prestige construction projects “The World” and “Burj Dubai” were threatened by the stop of work.
Only for the short term however. Because once again in October headlines say: “Dubai. Biggest racecourse of the world!” If there are superlatives again, the crisis cannot be that bad. The left-wing party’s weekly newspaper “Jungle World” still cheered in March “termination of luxury” and talked about the emirate’s decline. At the end of the article there are traces of socialistic streaks: “Time will show how long this can be swept under the carpet when Dubai slides into a recession and 20 % of well-off population are faced with
a critical mass of exploited and impoverished people.” Well until now I cannot remember any news on strikes our riots from Dubai.
Finally somebody twitters on the alleged financial crisis. But even that does not throw a desert’s son off it camel. Well, we cannot confirm a dramatic crisis on the Gulf yet. We stay tuned – please join us.
