Qatar: Oil windfall
Established in 1971, like the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, a nation barely 40 years old, already has the second highest GDP per capita in the world. Above all, it has one of the fastest-growing economies in the region. And in Doha, it shows. Here, a Jean Nouvel tower covered in lacy steel grows gloriously in the sun. There, on the Corniche, stands the Museum of Islamic Art, built by I. M. Pei and inaugurated last November. In front of the national museum ticket office, tickets are handed out in exchange for a smile: they are all free. In such a rich country, cultural initiatives are sponsored by the government, under the aegis of Sheikh Hamad Ben Khalifa Al-Thani. And in Qatar (1.5 million inhabitants) as in the Emirates, where the local population is barely 10 to 20 %, promoting culture and keeping the territory in local hands is an almost vital measure. Foreign investors know that they will never be allowed to acquire the slightest piece of sand. This has not stopped major hotel chains or international companies from setting up in Doha, nor has it prevented works by foreign architects (Santiago Calatrava's Museum of Photography or Arata Isozaki's National Library) from flourishing.
Massive investment
Some, like Aly Hussein Aly Abdullateef, a Qatari economist, believe that the country's cultural and architectural efforts are merely a modest by-product of Qatar's main activity: exploiting its natural gas and oil resources. The rest is mere poetry. Despite the fall in the price of a barrel of oil, the GDP associated with oil and gas rose from 56.9 % in 2007 to 61.6 % in 2008. "The second pillar of the economy, the insurance and real estate sector, fell to 9.9 % of GDP, followed by government services at 8.8 %, petrochemical and manufacturing industries at 6.8 %, construction at 4.9 % and finally the hotel industry, with a tiny 3.6 %." However, like Dubai, whose oil revenues are estimated at around 5 % of GDP, and Abu Dhabi, despite the richness of its subsoil, Doha is moving towards diversifying its economy, and in particular towards developing tourism.
The Qatar Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (QTEA) was set up in 2002 to promote the destination to foreign visitors. It has just announced the construction of a 112-storey convention and exhibition centre in 2012, making it the ninth tallest building in the world, with 50,000 m2 of convention space. In all, 17 billion dollars will be injected into the tourism sector over the next five years. So it's hard not to see that Doha is putting on its finest finery to invite visitors to honour it for three or four days, rather than abandoning it after the meagre day and a half that is currently the average. Strategies include putting this little-known beauty on the map of destinations where Middle Eastern cruise liners stop off, then attracting prestigious international institutions such as Sotheby's, the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, etc.; but also developing the hotel stock and giving rise to shopping malls in the middle of the desert, such as The Pearl and soon Lusail, where the pleasures of the beach will be superimposed on those of luxury window shopping.
"The country's future depends on education".
But in the land of Al Jazeera, education is also a crucial step. Like Dubai with its Academic City and Abu Dhabi with New York University and the Sorbonne, Doha is banking on its 'Education City' to lay the foundations for the future. The name of Sheikha Mozah, the second of the Emir of Qatar's three wives, is on everyone's lips. "She's a visionary who understands that the country's future lies in education," say Qataris in their long white dishdashas and expatriates in Bermuda shorts living here. Sheikha Mozah, who set up the Qatar Foundation, is the driving force behind the 14km2 university town, which is mainly devoted to science and research. Names like Cornell Medical College, Nothwestern University and Georgetown can be found here: "Qatar had money before education," says one student, "but things are moving.
While many Qatari and Emirati men have received their higher education at renowned European or American universities, women have not always been so fortunate. Even if, in Qatar, they are allowed to drive and are not obliged to wear the veil. The establishment of prestigious universities in the Gulf countries should therefore give more young girls access to higher education and make the United Arab Emirates and Qatar veritable "Meccas of knowledge", attracting students from all over the Arab and Muslim world.
In front of the cranes that are bringing hundreds of hotel rooms, shops and classrooms out of the ground, it seems that Qatar is holding up well in the face of the crisis. Many people come here to start all over again," says an expatriate from South Africa, marketing director of a major hotel. I met an American couple who had lost everything and came here to try their luck, where salaries are very high and opportunities are plentiful. And with an unemployment rate of less than 1 %, Qatar's sands paint an almost idyllic picture.
Dubai: Strategic hub
In Dubai, the picture is perhaps a little less idyllic, but we are far from flirting with tragedy. Admittedly, in the family of Gulf countries, and in the sibling group of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi holds (almost) all the oil. AT 95 %. And even with a barrel of oil at just 45 dollars, Abu Dhabi is doing better than Dubai, which is feeling the pinch, to the point of remaining rather vague about the real effects of the crisis. One figure that is circulating, however, is the $10 billion paid by Abu Dhabi to cover its 2009 debt. If Dubai has forged its own economic model, based on property development, finance, trade and services, it is precisely because it lacks oil. And in times of crisis, this policy has its dark side. "Dubai's strength is that it is a hub, but its weakness is also that it is a hub," says Fabienne Lucas, Director of the French Business Council in Dubai, which is why Abu Dhabi is lending a helping hand. Because the interests of some are those of others. In genealogical, political and organisational terms, Sheikh Mohamed Al Maktoum is the Emir of Dubai and also the Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, while the President of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa, is the Emir of Abu Dhabi.
Despite the slowdown in numerous superconstructions (over 50 % of projects have been halted), the extraordinary growth of the last five years (7.5 % on average) meant that the pearl of the Gulf was able to record growth of 2 % in 2008. "That may not sound like much to us, but 2 % is nevertheless positive growth, unlike in Europe and the United States," says Ehsan Khoman, an economist at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce. In the corridors of the major hotels, people are already talking about the end of the crisis and the shape of the recovery. While the most pessimistic see a U shape (crisis with a gradual and slow recovery), others are already talking about a V shape, in the certainty of a dazzling recovery. "The crisis has affected us quickly. But we'll get out of it faster than the others", concludes Ehsan Khoman, valiantly claiming the V shape. Whatever the economic situation, Dubai's geographical position makes it a strategic hub between Europe, Africa and Asia.
Attracting specific expertise
It is on this front that the government is fighting to respond to the crisis by supporting its infrastructure. While some construction sites are deserted, others, which are among the entities that enable Dubai to continue to distinguish itself as a strategic hub, remain hyperactive. Above Sheikh Zayed Road, helmeted men cling to large sections of scaffolding in the midday light: it is in their hands that the fate of the metro, scheduled for September, rests. Here and there, some of the monorail trains are already being run in. Further on, an express train line linking Dubai to Abu Dhabi is beginning to take shape across the desert. And while the exact date for the opening of the new Jebel Ali international airport remains a little vague, work is progressing, as are plans to expand the Free Zone's second port terminal.
The marketing of Dubai has gone too far for us to stop talking about it," continues Fabienne Lucas. So it's impossible to give up in the face of the current setbacks. The French community is fighting the same battle. All the more so given that in three years the community has grown from 6,000 to 12,000 people, and that of the 300 French companies based in the UAE, half are in Dubai. Despite all this, new French names continue to appear. Galeries Lafayette, for example, is set to complete the list of 1,200 shops on the Dubai Mall, at the foot of Burj Dubai, an 818-metre tower due to be inaugurated this year. While the biggest French names are in Dubai, other lesser-known names have been chosen for their very specific expertise. "Since this city represents the pinnacle of globalisation, a company wishing to set up here absolutely has to stand out from the crowd, and above all demonstrate a high capacity for innovation," concludes Fabienne Lucas.
Abu Dhabi: Future cultural capital
French companies that choose Abu Dhabi as their base in the Gulf are not exempt from originality either. "They need to have well-defined projects and above all a strong focus on industry," insists Gisèle Stolz, Development Director of the French Business Group in Abu Dhabi. In fact, in Abu Dhabi, which is both the capital of the UAE and the largest of the emirates (with 87 % of territory and over 200 islands), France is mainly represented in the oil and gas, defence and construction sectors. But here, unlike in Dubai, urban development has been slower and more structured. The current construction boom in Abu Dhabi is reminiscent of the boom in Dubai a few years ago," explains Marie-Laure Barbier, an engineer who arrived in the Emirates nineteen years ago. The two emirates are cooperating by sharing their experience and finances to better develop their country, which has been unified for 37 years". Yet many projects, even the best thought-out ones, take time to see the light of day. For example, Masdar, the 100 % eco-city that should be ready for use by 2016 and allow Abu Dhabi to slowly prepare its "conversion". From oil leader to environmental leader. Because even if it still has oil reserves for the next 150 years and would like to increase its production from 2.5 to 3.5 million barrels per day, the richest emirate would also like to see oil represent only 35 % of its GDP in the near future, compared with the current 60 %. And while the diversification of its economy will involve services, tourism, education, industry and trade, it will also focus on ecology and logistics parks. Masdar, a city of more than 5 km2 that will accommodate 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses, will be powered by 100 % of renewable energy and will produce neither a carbon footprint nor polluting waste, is therefore its flagship project. However, the Sorbonne and New York University project cannot be relegated to second place. Nor should that of Saadiyat Island and its many museums, scheduled for 2012.
Museums, media and Formula 1
Abu Dhabi is determined to emerge from anonymity and establish itself as a cultural capital. To this end, it has chosen none less than the most famous architects, Jean Nouvel, Franck Gehry, Zaha Hadid and Tadao Ando, each working on their own Louvre, Guggenheim, maritime museum, national museum or one of the 19 pavilions in the Biennale park on Saadyiat Island. Culture too, with Twofour54, a Free Zone entirely dedicated to the media, a kind of counterpart to Doha's Al Jazeera or Dubai's Media City, for which the BBC and CNN were the first to respond to the call. Another project, another island: Ferrari World on Yas Island will be a theme park dedicated to Formula 1. Abu Dhabi will be hosting its first Grand Prix next November. So it needed a space dedicated to speed, in a world where things are done with discipline, and even a beneficial slowness. In fact, the government recently published a project entitled "Economic Vision 2030", in which it presents its vision of the Abu Dhabi of tomorrow... for a future that is still a little distant.
