Saturday, December 14, 2019

UAE: Wonder Nation



The UAE is a remarkable nation. For a country with a population of 10 million to hit the Top 10 countries index on power, I mean that is quite something. This is an Israel-like wow factor going on. You have to ask, how did this come to be?

I have only gotten to learn about the UAE in recent weeks. There was so much I did not know. There is so much I still don't know.

But I came to learn that the federation was a voluntary coming together of seven different adjacent monarchies. I don't know of another example in the world where something like that happened. Every other example I know is of forceful conquest. Akbar would conquer in India and then turn the local king into his local tax collector. That was considered enlightened and generous.

Then I thought the monarch of the UAE simply prefers the title of president. But no, that is actually a duly elected position.

Then, boom, I learned the UAE has a federal parliament that, step by step, is moving towards universal franchise. The idea is that down the line every citizen of the UAE will vote. That is a declared goal. And I think that is remarkable. The UAE did not need an Arab Spring to get to this.

But, get this. Half of the federal parliament is female, by royal decree. Or, rather, presidential decree. That happened only a few weeks ago. And there were no hiccups in the population after that. Women in America don't see this happening for another 100 years.

Even more remarkable, the UAE passed anti-gender hostility in the workplace set of laws recently. They are remarkably enlightened, really well thought through. I don't see the US Congress doing something like that, and the #MeToo movement has raged in America for several years now.

Dubai is the most culturally diverse city on earth. And by a wide, wide margin. That is my number one thing to like about Dubai. In Dubai 10% are citizens, 90% are people who have come from 200 plus countries to work, make a living. Shanghai beats NYC on physical infrastructure. But Shanghai is nowhere close to attempting NYC's diversity. And Dubai makes NYC look like a 19th-century city.

A random global poll might show that Dubai is what people know. But the UAE is way more than Dubai. Abu Dhabi is only 90 miles away. That is a sweet 10 minutes on a hyperloop.

Dubai has already done what the region at large needs to do. Dubai was forced on that path because it had less oil than others. But now it has created a roadmap for the region at large. The post-oil future looks like Dubai. I think Dubai is the inspiration for NEOM.

Dubai: Remarkable City
NEOM: A Fundamental Departure For All Humanity?


Exciting as the present is, the future is even more exciting. It is my firm belief that Africa and South Asia are the next two Chinas. And the twin cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are well situated. What Hong Kong did for China Dubai could do for Africa and South Asia.

As the region at large attempts to emulate Dubai, Dubai simply needs to move higher up on the economic food chain. That higher ground is technology. What will happen in tech over the next 25 years is 100 times bigger than what has happened over the past 25. The Internet has been the appetizer. India has the tech human capital that powered Silicon Valley. The Middle East has the money. And the market is all around.







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