Tales of the not entirely expected

Dubai is aspiring to be a global financial centre - some even say it has already arrived. It's already one of the busiest tourism spots of the region, and we also know it's the region's largest trading hub.

And then suddenly out of the blue this past week two events conspired to bring economic activity to a halt for a couple of days, leading many to wonder whether the city-state can justifiably lay claim to its loftiest ambitions and well-regarded achievements.

Some may just say it was just a one-off - the public holiday on account of President Bush's visit - and hence does not merit much discussion.

Infrastructure

But then movement around the city again was disrupted when two days of heavy rain intervened, reflecting poorly on the physical infrastructure.

Gulf News has estimated that economic losses resulting from the Bush visit could broadly be more than Dh400 million, based simply on Dubai's annual GDP. But it's not so much the direct loss that's the issue, so much as the bigger picture. Some have already drawn comparison with whether New York or some other world centre would have shut down if the shoe were on the other foot.

One businessman we spoke to rightly pointed out that it could have been worse if there had been an untoward incident during the US president's visit: effectively, better safe than sorry.

But could it have been different? We are talking about an economy and a state which is now the cynosure of all eyes around the world, for all the right reasons. If we were to concede that President Bush falls in the high-risk category and commands an unprecedented security cover to close the whole city down for the entire day, with a charactersitcally 24/7 economy, might have had some jarring effect on the business image of the city.

A serious study could be done to precisely calculate the productivity loss of the hours lost in commuting. Of course, tackling the issue of heavy traffic is a challenge that Dubai will continue to face for some time regardless of visiting dignitaries.

Losses

As for the rain, the losses there must have run into many millions. But, again, the bigger picture is whether the image of Dubai is being compromised because of a couple of days of rain - though a deluge, no doubt. The rain badly exacerbated the traffic scenario. It's high time the authorities looked into how to avoid a repeat in the future.

Neither the President's visit nor the sudden deluge are everyday matters - yet such events will not be so uncommon that time, energy and investment should not be devoted to resolving the associated problems.

After all, a fully-functioning metropolis is not just about scale and modernity, it's also about essential efficiencies, even in the face of the unusual or the unexpected.