HONG KONG: Its growing role as a regional logistics hub may be just the counterbalance Dubai needs to offset its recent financial woes, according to a prominent Dubai executive.

After being hailed as the pride of the Middle East for years with its impressive hotels and man-made islands, Dubai finally hit the headlines for the wrong reasons, as the state-owned, debt-laden Dubai World requested a postponement of its debt repayments until at least May 2010. On that announcement, the stock market in Dubai promptly plunged 7 percent.

However, the Abu Dhabi government finally decided to lend a hand in the form of $10 billion, including a $4.1 billion repayment of an Islamic bond that matured on Monday. Consequently, Dubai's most imminent financial threat has eased, at least temporarily.

For a closer look at Dubai's current economic status, China Daily spoke to a senior executive of a major Dubai tourism and luxury hospitality group, who insisted that his company is still confident about the region's financial and economic development.

"From a logistical point of view, Dubai is also a major center in the region because of its well-established airline and port facilities," said Gerald Lawless, executive chairman of Jumeirah Group, which operates the seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai.

"In Dubai, we have strong airlines that continue to expand right through the recession and continue to have more aircraft, routes and destinations."

Though investor confidence in Dubai still remains sluggish, Lawless said Jumeirah is expecting a satisfactory performance in 2009 and 2010.

"All of our investors understand that Dubai is still a major economic center within the Gulf region."

Lawless said the hotel sector in Dubai has been enjoying very good occupancy rates throughout the year. While his company's average room rate has dropped slightly, the occupancy has remained at a very satisfactory level.

"In fact, we also have been having a huge increase in the number of Chinese visitors coming to Dubai over the last year. The connection between China, Dubai and the United Arab Emirates has been very significant for us in the tourism sector," Lawless said.

"The Asia-Pacific region has been of great importance to us. At the moment, our main presence is in the Middle East. But we are now hoping to grow significantly in China and the Asia-Pacific region in the coming years," he said.

He revealed that Jumeirah has already signed up hotel management contracts in different parts of China, including Macao, Guangzhou, Hainan and Shanghai. The company hopes to sign two more contracts and operate three to four hotels on the mainland by 2013.

Jumeirah, currently employing 300 staff from the mainland, is now also considering hiring 200 more Chinese staff in the coming year to support its business growth on the mainland, Lawless said.

(HK Edition 12/17/2009 page4)