New York to boost business in Dubai

Business In Dubai

Some of Dubai's largest listed companies are to descending on New York in hope of luring some foreign investment as GCC firms struggle towards recovery after the global financial crisis.

The road show will go ahead next week, and aims to bring together the management of firms listed on the Dubai Financial Market and NASDAQ Dubai with large US investors deploying capital overseas in an effort to rejuvenate business in Dubai.

"These conferences allow direct contact between senior management and the professional investment community," said Oliver Schutzmann, the head of investor relations at Shuaa Capital, one of the firms listed in Dubai that will take part in the presentations.

"This is an excellent opportunity for institutional investors to get introduced to companies they perhaps haven't met yet," he added.

Renewed confidence

The meetings are taking place in the light of renewed confidence in the Middle East region among foreign investors.

Business in Dubai suffered significantly, with its stock market enduring one of the steepest slumps of the crisis, but recovery up to now has been strong with the Dubai Financial Market index rising by more than 60 percent since reaching a low of 1,433 points in February.

The Dubai government currently has debts of around US$85 billion, and they are about to embark on a tapping mission across Asia and Europe to gain access to a thawing global capital markets. It hopes to borrow as much as US$6.5 billion.

Now is the time to invest in Dubai

Ali Khan, a director at Arqaam Capital in Dubai, said this was an opportune time for companies based in Dubai to sell themselves to international investors, given the market dynamics.

"I think it is definitely a good time precisely because of the large moves we've seen" in stock prices, he said. "We've gone from a process of fire-sale valuations to more stability and normalisation."

These days, foreign investors are likely to be paying more attention to companies' plans to enlarge their profits, Mr Khan added.

The 15 firms taking part in the presentations include Emaar Properties, construction firm Arabtec Holdings, Air Arabia, DP World, Dubai Islamic Bank and Emirates NBD.

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