Dubai not dependent on oil

As I step out of the plane and walk through the corridor of the international arrivals to get to customs, a wave of humid air and heat sweeps over me. I’m in a desert, why would it be humid? I remember that I’m right on the Persian Gulf. Also, I learned later that Dubai has recently implemented cloud seeding – that is why it rained later on our first day in the desert. A warm surprise, coming from the snowy and frigid climate of Michigan, USA.

Passing through customs and the rest of the airport to the exit, there are people and workers of all ethnicities, many from southeastern Asia like Pakistan and Bangladesh, and also many Europeans like me. Some men wear the traditional kurta, a long white tunic worn in many Middle Eastern countries, while others are dressed in Western clothing, with pants and button-up shirts.

Every sign is in Arabic and English, on the highway, on restaurant and shop signs. Abroad, I didn’t think that we would communicate with many people outside of our group, yet we ended up becoming friends with our tour guide – who was Pakistani (like my roommate) and whose spouse was Romanian (like me!). It was so exciting to find something in common with the place I was visiting.

With the variety of businesses we attended, I came to understand more that Dubai is not dependent on oil, which I had previously assumed was where their wealth came from, (it is really only about 6%). Much of Dubai’s wealth comes from a great deal of financial services that this mecca of tax-free income allows to flourish. A lot of investment comes in the form of Foreign Direct Investment,  and now investment in its stock exchange – the Dubai Financial Market.

Dubai is still growing, and I believe is on the verge of becoming the top city in the world, given its strategic position in the middle between the West and East and its free market policies. Traveling here has opened me to the potential that the U.S. can tap into – and learned a new mindset of how to do business and create a policy that could benefit us here.

Name: Malina Dumitrascu
Status: Junior
Major: Accounting
Hometown: Troy, Michigan
Program: Global Business in Dubai