What is the secret of Dubai's 'height'?k

 50 years of UAE independence: What is the secret of Dubai's 'height'?

When in the first week of August this year, Nicole Smith Ludwick from a small town in the US state of Georgia went to the top of Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, and said, "Hi mom, I'm at the top of the World' (Hey mom I'm on top of the world) so she wasn't just talking about the height of Burj Khalifa, this height was also of Dubai which has developed into 'Burj Khalifa' in a very short period of time and it More destinations are being added.

 Skydiver and extreme sports athlete Nicole Smith was featured in an advertisement for the national airline Emirates, or Emirates, after Britain removed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from its red list of travel restrictions. No advertisement in the world has ever been filmed at such a height (828 meters) before.

 But before that no country has made so much progress in so few years. Where just 30 years ago, only dust could be seen flying, now the world's highest roads and the most modern metros are visible. Where once there were two-story ramshackle houses, there are now magnificent skyscrapers, and tourists and businessmen from all over the world, who used to prefer London, Paris and New York, are now flocking to Dubai.

 United Arab Emirates and Dubai

 The United Arab Emirates is actually a federation of seven states: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman and Al Fujairah, with Abu Dhabi as its capital. However, whenever the United Arab Emirates is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is Dubai, so the UAE is actually Dubai. Although Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and other states also have their place, Dubai is just Dubai.

 These states got independence from Britain on December 1, 1971 and the next day, on December 2, six states formed a federal union. A seventh state, Ras Al Khaimah, joined the coalition on February 10, 1972, after the Iranian navy seized some sites in the Strait of Hormuz, claiming they belonged to it. Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah also claimed ownership of these areas. Thus, along with joining the union of these two states, the territorial dispute with Iran also became part of it, which continues till today.

The leaders of these states signed various treaties with Britain from 1820 to 1890 to allow them to trade safely. Britain used to call them Trucial States (Al-Amirat al-Mut-Salihah) and because the subcontinent was ruled by the British government at that time, the currency of these states also became the Indian rupee and the Emirati residents used to do their transactions in it. In 1959, it was renamed as the Gulf Rupee, which initially had a value equal to the Indian Rupee, later after independence, these states introduced their own currencies.

 According to Professor AK Pasha, Director of Gulf Studies at India's Jawaharlal Nehru University, about a hundred years ago, traders from the region, whether from India, Persia or Iraq, gradually gathered here in Dubai and this trade began. became the stronghold of When Britain discovered oil here, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum of Dubai and other leaders of the emirate began to receive income. Later, Sheikh Zayed became the first president of the United Arab Emirates and Sheikh Rashid became the first vice president.

 The United Arab Emirates and the pearl industry

 Professor Pasha says that the people of Dubai used to trade pearls and sell them in the surrounding areas. Similarly, other traders would also come here and sell their goods. A network of trade had developed in the region, and traders, whether from Kuwait or Basra, had to stop at Dubai on their way to the Indian cities of Gujarat or Kerala or Zanzibar.

 The pearl trade greatly benefited the Emiratis, but when the Japanese discovered artificial pearling, demand for Emirati pearls gradually declined and the industry shrunk to near extinction. After the discovery of oil, many Emiratis left the pearling industry to trade in the oil sector, and when they gained independence from Britain in 1971, oil production suddenly increased, boosting the region's economy. It also got support and Dubai became the center of trade

Prosperity story: 'Go to Dubai'

If seen, credit must be given to Pakistani film writer Riyaz Batalvi that he realized in 1979 that Dubai is going to go ahead and make such a place in the world that the world will keep pulling towards it. He made the superhit film 'Dubai Chalo' just eight years after the independence of Dubai, which is still considered one of the most successful films of Pakistan.

 Whatever the story of the film 'Dubai Chalo' showed the people of Pakistan and India in such a way that still the largest number of Indians and Pakistanis live in the UAE. According to various assessments conducted in the year 2021, there are about 2.8 million Indians and about 1.3 million Pakistanis in the total population of 999,000 in the United Arab Emirates, which is about 40 percent of the total population.

 The country that dusted in 1979-80, where there were only one or two story houses locally known as ground plus one and ground plus two apartments, is now home to nearly 200 nationalities from all over the world. . What is the reason for this? Ask anyone in Dubai that this is the result of the vision of the rulers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. He had decided soon after independence where to take the country.

 The vision in Dubai was Sheikh Rashid's, which Shaykh Mohammed has shamefully interpreted and this process is still going on. If Sheikh Zayed played a role in uniting the Emirati states and making them prosperous through oil wealth, Sheikh Rashid, on the other hand, envisioned a future beyond oil. His descendants took this idea further and transformed Dubai from an oil-dependent state into a major trading hub of the world.

 Shalish Das is a financier and entrepreneur from Orissa, India, who now lives in Dubai. Their sector is education and health services. He says that the most powerful thing about the UAE is the vision of its leaders. "Other countries also have great leaders, they think, but here, along with thinking, work is also done."

He believes that the way Dubai's new generation is being developed will take the country to greater heights in the next fifty years.

 There are no indications that this cannot happen. People are safe here, businesses are safe and the security here is among the best in the world.

 They compare it with America. America has invited the world's best talent and settled in its country. The same is true of the United Arab Emirates. They invite good people and get them to work which is very important for the development of the country.

 Dr. Pasha also agrees with Das. He says that behind the development of Dubai is the vision of Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum alone. Because Dubai has very little oil and they thought that if they bring radical changes in business, provide facilities to businessmen from other countries, then they will definitely come here for their benefit. Secondly, he wanted to experience every new thing to see how much it would benefit him.

 Dubai and the Covid crisis

Just take the example of how Dubai has dealt with the global epidemic of Covid-19 that shook the world. When the entire world closed its doors to each other due to the mozzie epidemic, Dubai was among the countries that welcomed visitors at the first opportunity. When the world is reluctant to hold any major event, Expo 2020 in Dubai is going on in full glory.

 Dubai, like the rest of the world, has also been affected by the global pandemic, with the country forced to shut down to prevent infections, malls deserted and planes roaring for a while at one of the world's busiest airports. The place was filled with the sound of wind, even as Emirates Airline laid off many of its employees due to the cancellation of flights.

 Dubai's economy shrank by 11% in 2020, but it has bounced back and all sectors are improving. About 90 percent of the UAE's population is currently vaccinated against the coronavirus, with Dubai, home to nearly 50 percent of the country's population, leading the way.

 Lal Bhatia, chairman of Hilsha Group in Dubai, says Dubai's growth can only be gauged by its emergency response to the Covid crisis.

 Lal Bhatia hails from Kolkata, India and moved to Dubai last year. When the UAE first opened during Covid, they caught the first flight and came here. He has come to Dubai many times before but this time the reason for his visit was something else. He says that I used to come here but now I have made my permanent home here and the main reason for this is Dubai's handling of the Covid crisis.

 The way they have handled the Covid crisis is very impressive. Like the rest of the world, they dealt with it not as a financial or economic crisis, but as a health crisis. They should adopt such methods that it should first be dealt with as a health crisis.

 Bhatia says that when all the world's financial hubs were closed or in trouble, Dubai was the only place that was open for business. What the UAE has done in the last 50 years has drawn people like me here. It seems like Dubai is ready to deal with covid. It's amazing the leadership and the vision that people like me come here and say I'm making this my new home. Here the leader did not just do what he thought, but what the community needed.

Bhatia says that Dubai's leadership first understood the crisis and then dealt with it in a very professional manner. "He ensured that Dubai remained open for business, but he went two steps further and introduced a visa system that allowed people from all over the world to come to Dubai and set up their own offices and businesses in their homes." could work for

 Bhatia also saw a business opportunity here for the Hilsha Group. He started working on the Work from Dubai program as soon as he came to Dubai. Here we offer that Dubai is a place where people can work from home. People come here, live here, work from home. The government has made it so that if you earn more than $5000 a month, you can get a one-year visa and you can work from Dubai. The government thought that since most people will be working from home due to Covid, why not offer them beautiful sunny Dubai, where there is high speed internet and complete security of data and systems.

 According to the official Visit Dubai website, the total cost of this visa is USD 611, which includes the application fee, visa processing fee, medical, and Emirati ID fee.

 Bhatia says that Dubai has made the best use of artificial intelligence to tackle Covid. According to the app released in Dubai during Covid, you had to get permission to go out to get household items and inform the authorities. Some friends were sitting in a villa, so they said, let's go in different directions and buy salaf. After a while, he received a call from the police saying that you guys are from the same place, then why are you going in different directions to buy Sauda Salaf? This is artificial intelligence that came in handy during Covid.

Muzaffar Rizvi, business editor of Khaleej Times, Dubai's largest English newspaper, also believes that Dubai's future is very bright as it has emerged as a safe destination for a better lifestyle in the world after its successful strategy to contain the pandemic. Is.

 According to the latest data released in Dubai, post-Covid-19, the population here has increased by 0.05 compared to last year. Muzaffar Rizvi confirms this, saying, 'Many people from Canada, America, South America and Europe have moved to Dubai after the pandemic because of the lockdown, restricted movement and long wait for the Covid vaccination. They felt unsafe in their own countries. We also saw that when the health infrastructure was badly affected due to the large-scale outbreak of the Covid-19 virus in India, a large number of Indians also moved to Dubai.

 In Dubai, the fine for not wearing a face mask in public places is 3000 dirhams.

 Lal Bhatia says there are more expats than locals in Dubai and all are following the rules, have been vaccinated. "It didn't all happen in one day. It's part of the same continuity that's been going on for the last 50 years."

 Rizwan Ahmed is a Pakistani businessman who has been coming to Dubai for the past 40 years. They also agree that Dubai's laws have become too lenient for foreign expatriates over the past two years, the so-called Covid years, and that the government's strategy is part of an ongoing process. '

 A period of tall buildings followed by mud houses

It is known that there was a time a few years ago when Dubai had the largest number of cranes in the world. This was the era of Dubai's 'lightning speed' construction. During this time, the main Sheikh Zayed highway connecting Dubai with Abu Dhabi was built on a modern basis, big projects like Dubai Marina, Burj Khalifa, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Jumeirah Heights, Palm Jumeirah were started and the simple building of Dubai Airport was built in the world. Built to suit the busiest airport.

 It is also important to mention here that no concrete or iron was used to build the Palm Jumeirah, which is an artificial island, but 120 million cubic meters of sand was extracted from the bottom of the sea to build the island. done

 Professor Pasha says that if seen as a whole, it is a great achievement to change a country in the last 20 or 30 years. Dubai became a financial hub, a regional powerhouse, modernized ports and 828-meter high skyscrapers like the Burj Al Khalifa.

 It has also become the world's biggest producers in oil, it is also a tourist center, it has become a medical hub, it has very good hospitals. Apart from this, due to the weakening of Arab countries like Egypt, Iraq and Syria, the political influence of the United Arab Emirates in the region has also increased.