Streamlining growth

The Dubai Strategic Plan (DSP) 2015, announced in February, will help the Dubai government steer the emirate into the next level of growth, development and excellence.

Vision 2015, announced by His HighnessShaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is expected to engineer an 11 per cent annual growth in GDP to Dh396.36 billion ($108 billion) by 2015 from the current Dh137.25 billion ($37.4 billion).

This would translate a 41 per cent growth in per capita GDP to $44,000 by 2015 from $31,140 now by creating 882,000 new jobs and bringing total employment to 1.73 million by 2015.

A balanced diet

However, for a fast-growing economy like Dubai, achieving growth is not an issue as growth has been coming due to an effective vision embedded within the emirate's economic plans.

The emirate's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 16 per cent in 2006 over 2005 GDP, according to the Department of Economic Development (DED), which regulates its private sector.

Soaring house rents, high inflation and massive traffic jams on Dubai's roads are testimony to the impact of the fast growth.

The challenge is to structure the growth in a manageable and responsible manner that helps its population and has limited impact on the environment.

Dubai is a victim of its own success. Some say it's difficult to manage an economy with such a high rate of growth, especially while trying to ensure healthy and balanced growth.

The question of whether the government will be able to achieve this growth rate is not important at this juncture.

What is important for an economy like Dubai is to ensure balanced growth. This is where the DSP 2015 will play a great role — in reshaping its future course by ensuring a balanced diet for its economy and society.

"Dubai Strategic Plan will open a new page in our history after a successful execution of the first one," Shaikh Mohammad said when making the announcement.

For Dubai, the DSP 2015 is a balanced diet.

A historic perspective

A peek into Dubai's past will show that during the first oil boom in the 1970s, Dubai had built its basic infrastructure including roads, highways, telecommunications, ports and other associated development, even before the development of social institutions.

Till then, Dubai remained an outpost for traders and had yet to become a regional hub.

The first oil boom

The government had pumped money into low-cost housing for UAE nationals and expatriates.

In the 1980s, the government had to just maintain and expand its infrastructure and add new processes.

For example, Dubai International Airport added the duty-free shop, Jebel Ali Port saw the development of a free zone to complement the shipping and logistics industry as a natural progression. Things were pretty much under control and growth was slow but smooth.

However, in the 1990s, when the sudden influx of traders from the former Soviet states began to swamp Dubai's wholesale markets, the trading and tourism sectors witnessed a major surge in business.

Hundreds of cargo and tourism companies began to profit by serving them. Suddenly, infrastructure looked very inadequate, prompting the government to re-think strategy.

Vision 2010

At this point, Shaikh Mohammad, the then Crown Prince of Dubai, launched his famous Vision 2010 and Vision 2020 to accelerate growth.

Accordingly, massive development projects took off that eventually saw the creation of the Department of Economic

Development, Dubai Transport Corporation, launch of Emaar Properties, Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai Summer Surprises, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Dubai Healthcare City, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai Multi-Commodities Centre and Dubai Maritime City. The rest is history.

However, as a result of these initiatives, when the emirate's economy began to accelerate after 2001 and 2002, some people began to take advantage of the 'free economy' and the absence of regulation, causing harm to the silent majority.

In this unbridled growth, some aspects were inadequate, such as social, legal and regulatory frameworks, partly because the need for these did not arise in the 1980s and 1990s.

A responsible approach to development

It is with against background one has to see the DSP 2015 and evaluate its significance. This is why the Plan focuses on regulation and responsibility towards the population, especially labourers and the environment.

The Plan, divided into five sections — Economic Development, Social Development, Infrastructure, Land and Environment, Safety, Security and Justice and Public Sector Excellence — also addresses major public concerns — traffic, rent, inflation as well as labour disputes — that have influenced the everyday lives of UAE residents over the past two years.

"Each and everyone living here are in my eyes and I want them to be safe and secure," Shaikh Mohammad reassured them while elaborating on the Plan.

The new plan, prepared by 300 people including officials, businessmen and academicians, is the second in six years, after Shaikh Mohammed laid out his famous Vision 2010 in 2000 that put Dubai in an ambitious growth mode, the fruits
of which are partially visible today.

"In 2000-01, we had laid out some strategic objectives under Vision 2010, which we have already achieved by 2005," he told an audience of nearly 2,000 government officials, business leaders and academicians. "This required a new strategic plan that will take us to a new level in development.

"The Dubai Strategic Plan, despite having its own specific goals, is fully integrated into the Federal strategic plan being prepared by the Council of Ministers, under the direction of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al ahyan."

The Plan also calls for enhanced accountability among government officials and the development of UAE national human capital that will ensure the success of the plan. The director-generals of all government departments have been tasked to develop their own strategic plans in line with the DSP.

Manageable growth

The DSP 2015 will ensure manageable growth and development and is expected to look after the side effects of growth, such as inflationary pressures, rents, high cost of living and traffic issues.

"The Dubai Strategic Plan will also ensure a common framework for the integrated operations of all government entities, focusing on five key areas that show the highest level of development potential — economic development; social development; infrastructure, land and environment; security, justice and safety and, public sector excellence. For each area, clear sub-sectors have been identified that will form the underlying principles for development," said Shaikh Mohammad.

"The plan encompasses many new attributes, with a foundation firmly built on quantitative achievements which form a solid base for sustained growth in the era of the knowledge economy. The plan will not be affected by oil price fluctuations. Dubai has succeeded in diversifying its sources of income, and reducing its dependence on oil so that, today, oil's contribution to GNP is a mere three per cent."

Key Policy Highlights

• Revise immigration policies and regulations in order to ensure and maintain demographic balance
• Introduce health insurance to ensure access to care
• Improve the healthcare sector governance structure
• Ensure equality and acceptable working conditions for Dubai's workforce and attract and retain required expertise
• Enrich Dubai's cultural environment by upgrading the regulatory framework for cultural organisations
• Increase awareness and interest in cultural activities
• Optimise land use through integrated urban planning
• Ensure adequate formulation of community policies
• Enhance government-driven intervention to ensure adequate low and medium income housing
• Increase the usage of the public transportation system
• Reduce private car travel demand
• Improve roads and traffic and safety levels
• Increase road network and transportation system capacity
• Improve legislation
• Improve mechanisms for resolving rental disputes
• Facilitate resolution of labour disputes