Dubai led 2002 with mega projects

The year 2002 has not been less eventful than its predecessor. The world - including the business world - came out of its shock over the events of September 11, 2001, but its reverberations continued to be felt until the end of this year.

Internationally, there were several major events which impacted on the way business was done. Sometimes the events were solely to do with business practices - like the questions of accounting and the likes of Worldcom or the bankruptcy of United Air Lines.

And sometimes, these were inextricably linked to politics of the time - like fluctuations in the prices of crude oil and gold, and dollar exchange rates, which swung with every new real or perceived threat to world peace like the Bali bombings, threat of war over Iraq and lately the North Korean nuclear issue.

Resignations of U.S. President George Bush's economic team led by Paul O'Neill, Treasury Secretary, shifted attention away from politics for a while, while troubles in Venezuela - an Opec partner - continued to rock the oil world and Latin America.

Good news came from the UAE - with Dubai taking the lead in announcing major projects and jump starting an economic boom.

Amid the ongoing projects came announcements of the formation of high profile growth bodies like the Dubai Development and Investment Authority (DDIA), the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), the Dubai Silicon Oasis and the Dubai Metals and Commodities Trading Centre - all designed to fill a major economic, commercial, financial, business and services gap between Singapore and Europe.

The outstanding event of 2002 was the trend setting offer of freehold property to foreigners and expatriate residents by Emaar Properties and the Palm project.

Work on the UAE's manmade project - the Palm - progressed to the extent that the Palm Jumeirah emerged off the Dubai coast and its shape is now easily visible.

Another major happening of the year was the coming on stream of a new bank in Dubai - Emaar Properties' Dubai Bank. No new conventional bank has been given a commercial banking licence for over two decades. The only new bank to be licenced for commercial operations was Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.

The year was rounded off in style by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Doha, which signed into reality the long awaited customs union - the precursor to the monetary union in 2010 and integration of GCC economies.

Over four days starting today, the Gulf News Business Section is publishing a calendar of major business events covering each quarter of 2002.