trailer world issue Two 2008

26 Issue Two 2008 International Population of the UAE population 4.95 million Age Structure of the UAE GDP per capita 32,990 US$ Division into sectors by percentage men 75% women 25% Arabs 33.5% of which ca. 20% are Emirate citizens Iranians 2.5% Northern Americans/ Europeans 1% Asians 63% 15 to 64 years 79% older than 65 years 1% 0 to 14 years 20% processing industry 12.6% construction 7.2% real estate 7.4% wholesale and retail trade 10.9% logistics/communication 6.7% public service 7.2% oil/gas 35.7% Oil production in million tonnes (2006) Oil resources in billion tonnes (2006) North America Europe Middle East UAE Oil production Refinery capacity 1000 250 500 750 100 25 50 75 27.06 2.12 12.85 100.38 465.6 1000.8 247.4 138.3 965.7 860.3 349.2 39.1 Population of the UAE population 4.95 million Age Structure of the UAE GDP per capita 32,990 US$ Division into sectors by percentage men 75% women 25% Arabs 33.5% of which ca. 20% are Emirate citizens Iranians 2.5% Northern Americans/ Europeans 1% Asians 63% 15 to 64 years 79% older than 65 years 1% 0 to 14 years 20% processing industry 12.6% construction 7.2% real estate 7.4% wholesale and retail trade 10.9% miscellaneous 12.3% logistics/communication 6.7% public service 7.2% oil/gas 35.7% Oil production in million tonnes (2006) Oil resources in billion tonnes (2006) North America Europe Middle East UAE Oil production Refinery capacity 1000 250 500 750 100 25 50 75 27.06 2.12 12.85 100.38 465.6 1000.8 247.4 138.3 965.7 860.3 349.2 39.1 Population of the UAE population 4.95 million Age Structure of the UAE GDP per capita 32,990 US$ Division into sectors by percentage men 75% women 25% Arabs 33.5% of which ca. 20% are Emirate citizens Iranians 2.5% Northern Americans/ Europeans 1% Asians 63% 15 to 64 years 79% older than 65 years 1% 0 to 14 years 20% processing industry 12.6% construction 7.2% real estate 7.4% wholesale and retail trade 10.9% miscellaneous 12.3% logistics/communication 6.7% public service 7.2% oil/gas 35.7% Oil production in million tonnes (2006) Oil resources in billion tonnes (2006) North America Europe Middle East UAE Oil production Refinery capacity 1000 250 500 750 100 25 50 75 27.06 2.12 12.85 100.38 465.6 1000.8 247.4 138.3 965.7 860.3 349.2 39.1 Graphic:Hoffmann is loosely priced around $5 dollars a gallon. How- ever, in Abu Dhabi the price is closer to $2 a gallon. Local truckers are knowledgeable to ﬁll up when- ever in Abu Dhabi, often deemed the oil capital of UAE. As Abu Dhabi is renowned for its oil produc- tion, Dubai’s reputation is largely based on trade and tourism. Priding itself as the crown jewel of modernity, Dubai is the city where things need to be the ﬁrst, the biggest, or the one and only in or- der to ﬁt it. Though it sits at the edge of the world’s second-largest desert, Dubai boasts abundant golf courses and fountains- not to mention the world’s highest rate of water usage per capita. Before it became known for mega projects, Du- bai was a stop oﬀ for merchants on trade routes con- necting the Gulf, Africa and the Far East. Centuries as a transit hub have made the emirate home to many people, cultures and traditions-and preserved its reputation as a commercial centre for the region. As of late, Dubai’s economy has been on ﬁre, consistently leading the region in almost all non- oil sectors. Making economic diversiﬁcation the cornerstone of its policies for the past 30 years, the fruits of such labors are paying oﬀ. Beginning ﬁrst with infrastructure-ports, airports, and logistics- in the 1970s and 1980s, by the end of the 1990s, Dubai had built an impressive construction and real es- tate sector. It would really take oﬀ in 2002, after the emirate announced that foreigners were permitted to own freehold property. With the iconic oﬀshore Palm islands, the Burj Dubai (the tallest building in the world) and the massive Jumeriah Beach Resi- dence (the largest single phase building project ever attempted), Dubai has constructed a global reputa- tion for itself within the construction and develop- ment community. It’s been said that 20 percent of the world’s tall cranes and over 80 per cent of the world’s dredgers are are in Dubai these days. Such statistics give some indication of the impressive volume of construction currently underway in the emirate. As awe-inspiring as the sheer numbers is the unbounded imagination of the developers, who continue to raise the bar for mega-projects: build- ings half a mile tall, man-made cities larger than Manhattan rising over the Gulf, islands reproduc- ing the map of the world, snow covered mountains among desert sands and larger than life models of the wonders of the ancient and modern world. If that is not enough, even a rough estimate of the amount of money being spent is shocking. The in- vested value alone of the following projects, which is not even a comprehensive list, is between $80bn and $100bn, or more than double Dubai’s GDP. “Dubai is totally construction-based. It’s a con- struction guy’s dream,” says Martin Mileham, di- rector of operations for Dubai oﬃces of Norr, a To- ronto-based architectural, engineering and interior design company. “You’ve got every type of building going on here, from individual villas to multi-de- velopment reclamation projects. There’s no other place in the world where two or three jobs walk in the door every day.” While Dubai has gained fame for its over-the-top projects, the city is also putting equal eﬀort into its basic infrastructure –roads, utilities, port upgrades and air links –to keep up with the expected inﬂux of people. Dubai Munici- pality, Dubai Electricity and Water (DEWA), Ports and Customs Free Zones (PCFZ) and the Civil Avi- ation Authority plan to spend an estimated $25 bn in the next few years. Additionally, while roads and bridges appear to be in a perpetual state of expan- sion, projects like the mass transit system, Dubai Metro, a light rail system traversing the city, is cur- rently under construction and expected to be com- pleted by 2009. One major player who has been active in UAE for more than 35 years is BPW. Producing axles and suspensions for light and heavy duty indus- A paradise for investments Logistics hub of the region

trailer world issue Two 2008

Pages