Throwing dirt when consumed by doubt

The UAE, including Dubai, resembles a fruitful tree that has the distinctive aroma of success and excellence in many fields, especially in diversifying sources of income.

The UAE had become a global trade and finance hub, having attracted capital investments and world-renowned establishments. Its achievements extend to other fields as well, such as air transport and the conference and exhibition industry.

This development experiment, which is comparable to other global development experiences in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and China, has been targeted by a malicious campaign that has set out to systematically distort the true picture for many reasons.

First, it is a successful Arab experiment which took on a global identity, especially since the Arab region is usually written off as a land of failure, corruption and violence.

Second, the UAE model embarrassed many other countries that failed to match it, despite having the resources and condudive circumstances.

These parties used the difficulties resulting from the global financial crisis to aim their arrows at the UAE's progressive example, as if the results of the crisis were limited to Dubai and the UAE. This prompted Cecilia Attias, the ex-wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy who lives in Dubai with her family, to wonder why there is such scrutiny of Dubai, especially when other countries suffered much more as a consequence of the crisis.

This clearly highlights that the campaign against Dubai and the UAE has not been fruitful, more so since it is not easy to deceive people in the age of real-time information and the internet.

It is very easy to search for information and establish the veracity of facts nowadays, and the latest events in Gaza stand testimony to this fact. People from all over the world expressed their support for the stricken population, which would not have been expected just two decades ago.

No one in the UAE is ignoring the repercussions of the global downturn. Major initiatives are being taken to ride out the crisis, the latest of which was the $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion) long-term bond programme that the UAE Central Bank committed to pay back for Dubai.

This figure covers the emirate's commitments for 2009, in turn strengthening a sense of trust in the economic future, and helped reduce the intensity of the media campaign against the UAE.

Meanwhile, the move proved once again that the UAE is a federation whose economic components cannot be separated. It has one central bank, one currency and federal ministries running many joint financial, monetary and commercial affairs.

These components are as inseparable as Los Angeles and New York, Berlin and Munich, or London and Glasgow.

Those out to besmirch the UAE's achievements will still finds ways to ask inane questions. Some are still trying to scrutinise the small details resulting from rapid growth while at a loss to comprehend the robust progress in a developing country.

They continue to wonder how UAE airlines can compete with renowned international carriers such as British Airways, and even excel them in terms of services and international networks.

It would be so much more reasonable to imbibe lessons from the UAE experience. This is exactly what Qatar is trying to do.

Qatar took major steps towards developing many important economic sectors, especially transportation, education and the petrol and gas industry.

Fortunately, this malicious campaign has not affected the UAE. With the exclusion of the property sector, which is facing some difficulties, other sectors are still sustaining reasonable growth rates.

Transportation, telecommunications, trade and industry are some of the sectors operating at their normal rates. The UAE economy is thriving and will achieve high growth rates after the global economy overcomes the effects of the financial crisis, which again can only add new insights to the development model.

The writer is a UAE economic expert.