06-14-2004, 04:16 PM
Well, i dont want to sound too pessimistic but in my opinion no place can be like Dubai for two basic factors
1. the amount of oil money pumped in to create dubai what it is today can't be emulated anywhere outside of middle east.
2. the 'Real' liberal trade and investor-friendly policies which were laid down by the shiekhs of UAE. I dont think GOP would be able to emulate that either. And there are way too many players' having a stake in this venture of Gwadar and nearly everybody's neeyat is kharab. Most of them are there just to create hype (so that their projects get better media coverage and the value of their property rises), to bribe their way to start a new commerical venture, make quick bucks and then run away to the city across the pond, Dubai. I feel that this bubble will burst in about 3-4 years time when these projects will actually be completed but there wont be any business to conduct because the route from central asia through afghanistan would not have been stabilised enough to be used for commercial purposes.
But yes, before that bubble bursts, we will see a situation similar to the california gold rush of the mid 1800s and the dot-com rush of the late 1990s, and everyody would be rushing off to gwadar and investing, creating jobs, infrastructure, "palm cities", hotels and doing what not to be a part of that pipe dream. But then one day all of them will realise that the promised gold isnt in the hills and also because there is a bigger, meaner, better opponent sitting right across the narrow sea in the form dubai.
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Arrrgh... it sure's gonna be mighty rough sailin' today ... mates!
1. the amount of oil money pumped in to create dubai what it is today can't be emulated anywhere outside of middle east.
2. the 'Real' liberal trade and investor-friendly policies which were laid down by the shiekhs of UAE. I dont think GOP would be able to emulate that either. And there are way too many players' having a stake in this venture of Gwadar and nearly everybody's neeyat is kharab. Most of them are there just to create hype (so that their projects get better media coverage and the value of their property rises), to bribe their way to start a new commerical venture, make quick bucks and then run away to the city across the pond, Dubai. I feel that this bubble will burst in about 3-4 years time when these projects will actually be completed but there wont be any business to conduct because the route from central asia through afghanistan would not have been stabilised enough to be used for commercial purposes.
But yes, before that bubble bursts, we will see a situation similar to the california gold rush of the mid 1800s and the dot-com rush of the late 1990s, and everyody would be rushing off to gwadar and investing, creating jobs, infrastructure, "palm cities", hotels and doing what not to be a part of that pipe dream. But then one day all of them will realise that the promised gold isnt in the hills and also because there is a bigger, meaner, better opponent sitting right across the narrow sea in the form dubai.
________________________
Arrrgh... it sure's gonna be mighty rough sailin' today ... mates!
