Why Dubai is still considered an 'undervalued city'
Dubai remains an undervalued city around the world, according to Lal Bhatia, chairman of the Hilshaw Group, who was addressing the AB Future of Work Forum on Wednesday morning.
Bhatia, a businessman with offices in Italy, Russia and Thailand, decided to move the global operations of his Hilshaw Group, a multi-family office that invests in the remote working model, from India to the emirate last year – in the middle of the coronavirus crisis – and bet $175 million on the promise that working from home in Dubai will be an investment force in the world.
He told the forum that potential opportunities existed in other countries, including Finland, Bermuda, and Barbados, but that Dubai was the perfect option.
He said: “Dubai is still undervalued, from the standpoint of lifestyle, comparing different countries or different places. It’s still undervalued.
“The real estate cost, cost of work, lifestyle, it’s much less expensive compared to somewhere like London. And then you get all those facilities in one place, it's a one-stop-shop, it gives you the value for money that you're looking for. And for employees, the schools, colleges, the health care are all great.”
According to the Consumer Confidence Index released by Dubai Economy, consumer confidence in Dubai rose to its highest since 2015 in the first quarter of this year as nationals and residents repose trust in government policies despite the challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bhatia said: “If you look at Dubai compared to different places, there are so many places now, the so-called financial hubs of the world, that are closed for business. Dubai has been open for business, they were closed for a short time but they're open for business. You can form a company here in five days or less, and you can get a visa in under three days. Let's compare that to many other places, that's not possible.
“The other thing I liked about Dubai and the UAE is that they recognised the crisis as a health crisis, not a financial crisis. They put the Covid protocols in place and the policies. Dubai had everything right.”
Bhatia revealed that his plan to relocate to the emirate was confirmed prior to the launch of new remote working protocols, which were announced by Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
As part of the rules, aimed at providing flexible working models that aligned with both government objectives and global best practices, employees can perform their duties from outside their offices, using remote working technologies.
Bhatia said: “Dubai had that plan, it’s just what Covid did was it accelerated the implementation.”
He revealed that discussions are taking place with tech companies in Europe, China, and Canada, among others, and said retrofitting work was currently taking place in various properties across Dubai.
He said that the “first milestone” will be in the first quarter of next year when 1,200 people are welcomed into the accommodation and that this will be ramped up to 5,000 by the end of 2022.
And from there he is hoping to expand further. “We want to expand to a bigger form, expand to a bigger footprint, and take it to different countries,” he said.
“All these different countries will see Dubai as the test case and learn from that example of how things have been handled and understand that it's the well-being of the employee which is the most important thing and we should be right there to assist them,” he added.