India-UAE Relations

Nice Image: Star Trek-March 27 (West Indies vs Australia) (GN)

A stupid article about cricket and astrology, but nice image to brighten up any blog post!

India and the UAE Take Center Stage
UAE and India sign deals worth $20b (GN)

It is good to see these two countries working together. With more than 1 million Indians here at more than 1/4 of the population, cooperation on a government to government level can only improve the lot of Indians in the UAE. The better this segment of the population fares, the better it will be for all. We are greatly impacted by the role of Indians, from their sacraficial contribution on construction projects to their various roles in service and management.

...a pledge (of Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum) to make the UAE the sub-continent giant's top trade partner.

This would be a remarkable feat if achieved, considering the UAE's formidable rivals for such a title--China, the US, even neighbor Pakistan. Can such a small country possibly achieve such a goal? If anyone has the capability of successfully charting such a course, it is Sheikh Mohammad.

"We want to be number one," Shaikh Mohammad told a gathering of business leaders from both countries. The UAE now ranks third after the United States and China in terms of India's annual two-way trade.

One should mark Sheikh Mohammad's words and see how much closer the UAE comes to this goal in a year's time.


See India-UAE bilateral relations factsheet.

Related stories: Two regions 'can emerge as number one' (GN) and Mohammad embarks on historic visit to India (GN, with details about India-UAE bilateral activities):

Nearly 50 per cent of the 1.3 million Indians living in the UAE represent the labour sector. An increase in these figures is expected in the future, keeping in view the diversifying and growing characteristics of the UAE labour market.

Also, India rises as Dubai’s export hub (Financial Express-UK)

Dubai is increasingly an important transshipment point and logistic hub for Indian goods. The total trade between Dubai and India has increased from $2.5 billion in 2002 to $10.9 billion in 2006, reflecting an increase of 336%. Over 80% of the trade between India and UAE is routed through Dubai, Rajamony said.

(Venu Rajamony, new Consul General of India in UAE, during a dinner reception in his honour in Dubai.)

Finally, Suicide cases among Indians up by 10% (GN, new India consul's annual report).


Disquiet on the Property Front
Put a roof on maintenance fees (GN)

Good title, but the article could have provided much more analysis. I agree with the conclusion:

...it is important to create a process that facilitates addressing tenant grievances and complaints, which could only be achieved through the existence of a neutral arbiter that looks into the matter.

But some discussion about the extent of the problem and possible solutions would have been helpful. Why not, for example, suggest a requirement that developers and management companies be audited and required to detail what past and projected expenditures are?


More Rail Transport
Dubai needs trams to beat the jams (GN)

Trams would nicely compliment the new Metro.

...officials point out it is better to put in a tram network in place while a city is being built than to "reorganise" it for a rail network when the city is fully developed.

I look forward to seeing the Al Sufouh line. Hopefully it will link right up with the metro taking the Marina ring road.

Dubai could have a 15-kilometre tram network on Al Sufouh Road and a 4.1-kilometre network for the Burj Dubai area. It could be linked to the Dubai Metro that is being built to create a viable public transport system in the city.

What about the day job?
Muse of her times (GN)

Nimah Nawwab was brought up in Saudi Arabia and writes her poems in English.

This little society piece is interesting for showing what motivation and effort can achieve on a personal level. Besides a busy day job and growing up in a repressive society, a working mother finds a way to blossom.

"She came across as humble, sweet-natured and, at the risk of sounding predictable, lyrical."

Why write in English?

"I grew up with English; I am bilingual. It is a global language; the language of the times. Maybe in the next few years Chinese will be the language of the times. I find there is a lot of interest in the Arab world in general so it is good to have someone from the Arab world write about it in English or (in other words) 'from the inside'."