Kentucky, US: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said Dubai is recovering after state-controlled holding company Dubai World reached a debt-restructuring settlement with creditors.

"We are back. Of course we are back," Shaikh Mohammad said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness With Margaret Brennan" at the FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky, on Sunday. "This is a challenge. Life would be boring if there's no challenge."

Dubai World, one of three main holding companies controlled by Shaikh Mohammad, said September 10 that 99 per cent of creditors had agreed to alter the terms on $24.9 billion of debt.

Dubai's vision is unchanged after projects such as Meydan and Burj Khalifa were completed on schedule, Shaikh Mohammad said. "All the projects that were there are going ahead," although some may be delayed for six months to a year, he said.

"Life goes on," said Shaikh Mohammad, who was taking part in a 12-hour, 160-kilometer endurance race.

Resuming work

Nakheel, developer of palm-tree shaped islands of Dubai's coast, said last week it will complete its debt-restructuring by the end of this year and that it has resumed construction work in its Al Furjan project with Al Shafar Transport and Contracting Co.

Dubai's benchmark stock index has gained 7.8 per cent since the Dubai World announcement, trimming its loss for the year to 4.8 per cent. Abu Dhabi's ADX General Index has gained 4.9 per cent.

The Dubai World and Nakheel announcements "are steps in the right direction" and have helped improve investor sentiment, Ali Taqi, a portfolio manager at A/T Capital Management in Dubai. "The completion of pending real-estate projects is a sign of real-estate companies getting back on track."

The Dubai government will seek to raise about $1 billion from a bond sale this week, two bankers familiar with the plan said on September 23. The bond sale will tap the market for the first time since Dubai World's announcement.

"When I talk, I talk about Dubai, but we have to talk about the whole UAE as a country," Shaikh Mohammed said. "We do things in Abu Dhabi, we do things in Dubai, we do things in Sharjah. But the completion will be great."