Monday 30 November 2009

This Is Getting Serious - Dubai Police Intervene For Those Who Have Not Yet Gotten The "Message"

Well, I guess some people are hard to educate (not a real surprise when the intended audience is bankers and journalists  - their past and most likely future behavior indicates a need for more than one lesson).  The sight of a badge may focus some unfocused finds.

In an official press statement carried on WAM, Lt. General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Dubai Police Commander and Head of the Dubai Government's Budget Committee (I guess there's a logical connection there somewhere between these two positions) noted that:
  1. "... in the whole region, real estate continue to be the top earning sector and that reality investors were still safe from the global slow down."
  2. "Only speculative real estate investors have been affected by the slow down in the sector," he added.
  3. Speaking of the budget process for next year, he remarked:  "The department heads showed remarkable efficiency in setting financial and administrative strategies that will ensure Dubai's continuous excellence," he said.
  4. "Dahi Khalfan pointed out that Dubai has more than a single landmark to be proud of.  'Usually, each of the world's countries has an icon to be proud of. Dubai has many, such as Burj Dubai, Burj Al Arab, Dubai Mall, as well as Dubai International Airport and the Emirates Airlines which are seen as major drivers for tourism.' Dahi Khalfan, who also heads Dubai's Crisis management Team, stated that Dubai government had no debts issue.
  5. "Dubai has rather an issue of unfair competition by some circles which seek to undermine the successful emirates and to unseat it as a global centre for finance and business and a magnet for foreign investments that thrived and succeeded in Dubai." "I noticed that Gulf and foreign media, as well as a large segment of general public, confuse between debts of Dubai government, which are almost non-existent, and the debts of local companies. This confusion should be corrected and the public should be made aware that to separate between the two types of debts." 
  6. "As for the real estate sector, Dahi Khalfan said it should be referred to as a "recovering sector" for the investors who are in the market for medium and long term gains."  AA: Admittedly, I may need another lesson.  I am having trouble reconciling statements #1 and #2 above with this one.  How precisely does the market differentiate in setting a price for a "speculator" from the apparently much higher one it sets for an "investor"?
In any case it's a tradition in some of the "sophisticated" Western countries that when the sheriff speaks up, he has the last word.   As was said a little more than two weeks ago, it is time to be "quiet".  Nothing to see here.  Move along.

No comments: