Dubai [antikvár]

from His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Industry, and Chairman of Dubai Municipalityf you are new to Dtibai, welcome - and I hope this book will / serve as a tiseful introduction. For residents or visitors already ^^ familiar with the emirate, I believe it will present some perspectives of our country and history you may not have seen before.For those who have recently arrived I suggest that, to get a feel for the place and to begin to understand how it works, you take a stroll along the Creek. Appropriately, the waterway features dominantly in this book, simply because it's been so dominant in our history. The activities there are a microcosm of the whole of this industrious, multicultural, adaptable, tolerant city.The Creek curves through Dubai, its waters reflecting ancient wind-towers and neon advertisements, its skyhne alternately punctuated by slender minarets and high-rise offices. Moored at its wharfs or churning its surface are trading dhows and fishing boats, pleasure craft and oil-service vessels. Hotels and gardens line its banks, while the walls of the merchants' houses in the old quarter are still lapped by its tides. Busy along its shores are the people of many nations who live and work here, bringing a cultural variety that enriches every aspect of life.Geography, of course, has helped. Dubai, positioned midway between Europe and the Far Fast, is at the hub of the wealthy Middle East and of a greater market that stretches from the Levant to the Indian subcontinent and from the newly-emerging states of the CIS to Africa. But then, throughout the world, strategic locations, especially seaports, have historically been centres of trading activity -although not all have taken full advantage of their position by developing trading skills and supporting services, nor have they all attracted commerce and industry.Here in Dubai - while we have the necessary controls and legislation to secure a fair and just commercial environment - the authorities prefer to leave companies to get on with what they do best: running their businesses.