DUBAI/UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: FEARS ABOUT ECONOMIC RECESSION AS USA BUILDS UP MILITARY PRESENCE IN THE GULF AFTER TERROR ATTACKS

Record ID: 338318

  • Title: DUBAI/UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: FEARS ABOUT ECONOMIC RECESSION AS USA BUILDS UP MILITARY PRESENCE IN THE GULF AFTER TERROR ATTACKS
  • Date: 20th September 2001
  • Summary: DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (SEPTEMBER 20, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE/ PAN OF DUBAI SKYLINE 0.08 2. SLV DUBAI RESIDENT SITTING ON BENCH IN STREET READING NEWSPAPER 0.13 3. SCU NEWSPAPER HEADLINES READING PENTAGON ORDERS WARPLANES TO THE GULF/ PAN TO MAN READING 0.20 4. WIDE OF BOATS DOCKED AT DUBAI CREEK 0.25 5. VARIOUS, BOATS PASSING / BOAT WITH UAE FLAG FLYING (2 SHOTS) 0.39 6. SMV OF ROWLAND GRIFFITHS , REGIONAL DIRECTOR CISCO SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL, BEING INTERVIEWED 0.45 7. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROWLAND GRIFFITHS, REGIONAL DIRECTOR CISCO SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL, SAYING: "From a business point of view we haven't really seen any change and one of the things we've said to all our customers is that we're committed to stay, were not going anywhere, CISCO, is not going anywhere, we don't see that there's any need for us to leave the region at the moment, but obviously like any sensible organisation were looking at insuring that we have a plan in place that if ever we did need to, were not suddenly going to have to be thinking about it when it is too late." 1.12 8. WIDE OF PEOPLE WALKING IN DUBAI STREET 1.17 9. SLV PORTERS CARRYING GOODS AT DUBAI CREEK 1.22 10. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN DEYKIN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, THE MEDIA HOUSE, SAYING: "Well, I think it is slightly more worrying this time, there's always a patina of normality in Dubai, there is a sense of deja vu. Last time round there was a sense of calm before the storm and then of course we went into really a very major recession which a few companies were really very lucky to come out the other side of so right now there's an eerie calm and I would say there's a presentation of business as normal but by the same token those of us who saw what happened ten years ago are a little bit concerned." 2.00 11. WIDE OF HOTEL GUESTS WALKING INTO SWIMMING POOL 2.07 12. MV PEOPLE IN HOTEL SWIMMING POOL 2.12 13. WIDE OF PEOPLE WALKING ON BEACH 2.16 14. SLV YACHT AT SEA 2.26 15. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL SCULLY, GENERAL MANAGER, LE MERIIEN MINA SEYAHI BEACH RESORT AND MARINA, SAYING: "We've found that within the first three days of the attack that we lost between 15 and 20 per cent of our bookings. We're finding at the at the moment that we're about 50 per cent down on bookings which are actually coming in, however they're still coming in very well. What we have noticed is that the majority of groups and groups of people with conferences are reluctant to book at this stage." 2.46 16. SLV /PAN JEWELLERS SHOPS IN DUBAI GOLD SOUK MARKET 2.54 17. CLOSE UP OF RINGS ON REVOLVING STAND 2.59 18. WIDE OF JEWELLERY ON DISPLAY IN SHOP WINDOW 3.04 19. MV PEOPLE WALKING ALONG STREET 3.10 20. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAKISTANI RESIDENT SABER HUSSEIN SAYING: "If one man makes a mistake and if the other man does the same there is no difference between them both. I hope there is not any attack on Afghanistan." 3.20 21. WIDE / GENERAL VIEW OF MOSQUE ACROSS DUBAI CREEK 3.25 22. SCU OLD MAN SITTING ON BOAT IN CREEK 3.30 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 5th October 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
  • City:
  • Country: United Arab Emirates
  • Reuters ID: LVA8E4G7O8766HHOVZ7UW08DA87V
  • Story Text: Businessmen and hoteliers in Dubai, the commercial
    centre of the United Arab Emirates are expressing tempered
    caution about economic prospects as the United States builds
    up its military presence in the Gulf Region.



    As the United States military build-up continued
    residents and businessmen in the UAE emirate of Dubai
    expressed mixed sentiments about the situation on Thursday
    (September 20), although there was a common thread of concern
    about the possible effects of any military action against
    Afghanistan.

    Dubai is a major trading and commercial centre in the
    Gulf. Expatriates make up the majority of the UAE population -
    although there is no official breakdown, officials put the
    figure at between 70 and 75 per cent.

    Once reliant on oil revenues for its early development the
    non-oil sector now accounts for an estimated 80 per cent of
    Dubai's GDP. The emirate is investing heavily in providing
    facilities to attract media and information companies. Cisco
    Systems, a major computer networking company based in the
    United States now has its Middle East regional headquarters in
    the newly built Dubai Internet City. Rowland Griffiths is the
    company's Regional Director - he says he has experienced
    little change in business since the crisis started but the
    company has contingency plans in place should the situation
    deteriorate.

    "From a business point of view we haven't really seen any
    change and one of the things we've said to all our customers
    is that we're committed to stay, were not going anywhere,
    CISCO, is not going anywhere, we don't see that there's any
    need for us to leave the region at the moment," he said.

    British businessman John Deykin has been in Dubai for over
    20 years and runs The Media House, a branding and advertising
    company. He says the company has experienced a slowdown in
    business since the attacks in the United States because of
    clients going into a holding pattern. His business survived
    the economic slump that followed the Gulf War ten years ago
    but he is expressing concern about what might happen with this
    latest crisis.

    "Well I think it is slightly more worrying this time,
    there's always a patina of normality in Dubai, there is a
    sense of deja vu. Last time round there was a sense of calm
    before the storm and then of course we went into really a very
    major recession which a few companies we're really very lucky
    to come out the other side of so right now there's an eerie
    calm and I would say there there's a presentation of business
    as normal but by the same token those of us who saw what
    happened ten years ago are a little bit concerned," he said.

    Tourism is a growing industry in Dubai - three million
    people visited the country in 2000 and that figure is expected
    to rise to six million by 2010. Hotel manager Michael Scully
    says there was an immediate impact on business following the
    attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

    "We've found that within the first three days of the attack
    that we lost between 15 and 20 per cent of our bookings. We're
    finding at the moment that were about 50 per cent down on
    bookings which are actually coming in, however they're still
    coming in very well," Scully said.

    Most of the UAE's expatriate workers are from the Indian
    subcontinent - with an estimated 600,000 from Pakistan. Saber
    Hussein is a Pakistani from a village close to the border with
    Pakistan. He appealed to President Bush not to attack
    Afghanistan, arguing that one man's mistake should not justify
    the mistake of another man.

    awa/ik


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