Dubai: Abu Dhabi and the UAE Central Bank's decision on Monday to extend $10 billion (Dh36 billion) as financial support came as no surprise to Gulf News readers, who said that this was proof of the unity of the federation.
Asma Abdul Rahman Ali Bahassan, a 28-year-old Emirati, said: "People forget that this is the UAE — the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is part of a federation and people should realise that financial problems happen in every part of the world."
Asma felt that recent news reports in the international media isolated Dubai from the country, and targeted the emirate unfairly.
Having visited the UK recently, Asma said that she was taken aback by the extensive coverage in the newspapers and tabloids sensationalising the issue and dedicating special columns to the fin-ancial situation in Dubai.
"It was pure ignorance. It was like calling London a country and focusing on its issues as separate from those of the UK," she said.
She hoped that yesterday's announcement would send a loud and clear message to the international media about the UAE being a strong federation.
"In the UAE, we have properties in Ajman being advertised [for] in Dubai. What does that mean? We are just like any other country. Our President is from Abu Dhabi and will support the country whenever needed. That Abu Dhabi has extended support to Dubai is only a natural step for a country like the UAE to take."
Possible to overcome
Murad Lassoud, a Tunisian expatriate living in Abu Dhabi, compared the issues faced by Dubai World to the Arabic metaphor of ‘a summer cloud', and said that it was a problem that would soon be overcome.
"The decision was quite expected and is a proof of the strength of the country. The UAE is like a family and we have just celebrated the National Day, which showed how united the country is."
Yousuf Shalabi, an Abu Dhabi-based Lebanese-Canadian, welcomed the news, praising the country for acting together during a difficult situation.
He said: "The UAE is one country and if Abu Dhabi steps in to assist Dubai, it goes on to show that these emirates work together, and the country is being run well."
Talking about the recent negative coverage by a part of the international media, Shalabi said that the reports could not have been based on personal experiences by journalists.
"One reads about these apparent issues in the international media and newspapers do write about it, but nobody is really sitting with the rulers when they write such reports! All we know is that the rulers are friendly with each other and keep visiting other emirates," he said.
Divya Jitendra Gianchandani, a Dubai-based entrepreneur, said that the international media had reacted prematurely, and had based their reports on half-truths.
"What Dubai has achieved in the last decade is only possible for other countries to achieve in four to five decades. Some hurdles were bound to be more difficult and the global economic crisis did impact many economies. But, I was surprised to see how the UAE's economy has grown into a significant player in the world — its presence or absence is equally important to developing as well as developed nations."
