While questions loom large about the geopolitical risks surrounding the Middle East, Hadi Badri, CEO of Dubai Economic Development Corporation (DEDC) insists that Dubai intends to be open and “not necessarily choose sides”.
The US-Israel war against Iran has now lasted for a little over three months and there is still no sign of that a conclusive deal is in sight to end the conflict. While this has naturally led to some hesitation for private wealth seeking expansion into Middle Eastern hubs, Hadi Badri, CEO of Dubai Economic Development Corporation (DEDC) – an arm within the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) – sees continued interest.
According to Badri, it is “understandable” that there are investors waiting for the “dust to settle” but there is still a lot of interest with 40 new foreign direct investment (FDI) deals coming in since February 28 when the conflict first commenced.
“Actually, I’d go even beyond that. There’s a little bit of fear of missing out or FOMO because they know businesses or colleagues who are in the market that have done well,” Badri said during the UBS Asian Investment Conference (AIC) in Hong Kong last week. “The reality is over these past two and a half months, we have signed deals of hundreds of millions of dollars that have come into the market.”
“We’re very open people”
With the US is engaging in multiple conflicts worldwide, often imposing sanctions that could affect financial institutions, one of the major geopolitical considerations for hubs is whether they will remain neutral.
“We’re very open people. For us, the philosophy is always how do we work with country A and country B, and not necessarily choose sides,” stressed Badri, who also leads the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33), an intiative to double the city’s GDP by 2033. “And that’s the philosophy that we will take going forward, even given this current shake-up.”
Connecting Asian families
Of the global flows into the Middle East, Asia is a major contributor with cumulative FDI between the two regions expected to total over USD270 billion over the next 10 years, according to an HSBC estimate, up from less than USD140 billion in the previous decade.
“The Dubai way is not how do we lift and shift people from one market to another. The Dubai way is to say we want to be in the consideration set to be that next growth platform, often away from your home, but feeling part of a new home,” Badri added.
“The opportunity is how can Dubai serve Asian families outside of Hong Kong. They keep their capabilities in Hong Kong, but they build new capabilities on the ground in Dubai. Whether it’s in real estate, access to new geographies or whether it’s the stock market, which over the past two years has been a top three global performer.”
