Don of Dubai

"They have nothing to do with Dubai but they have bought apartments -- one man bought four or five apartments -- and these are very substantial people. What they are doing in Dubai is amazing and everybody is talking about it very positively.

"We have people letting in some of my buildings from all over the world. We have the richest people from India, the richest people from China. Many of these people follow me. If I build a building, no matter where it is, they buy an apartment. It's turned out to be a great investment for them."

Nakheel CEO Chris O'Donnell is no doubt unfamiliar with being the second-most important man at the conference table, but has much to add, particularly on a regional level. O'Donnell is at the centre of the Dubai construction boom, and has faith in the city he is helping to build.

"Dubai is going to be the commercial hub of the Middle East. It's going to have a population of about 4 million people by 2020. Dubai is very much on the fast track to cement its place in the Middle East as the commercial hub and tourist hub."

Trump also explains that planning regulations have played a part in his decision to expand overseas.

"Everything is very difficult in New York, and it's hard to get approval. If you drop a pebble into the ocean you suffer serious consequences, while in Dubai, they're building an island in the ocean the likes of which nobody has ever seen. It's really spectacular. It's a great engineering feat.

"If you want to build something architecturally great in New York, it's very hard to do. We have zoning and much of the zoning is contextual. If you have a building that's a certain size you have to build the same size building next to it.

So if an architect came in with a plan such as we have for Dubai, with some really great architecture, you couldn't do it in New York."

Security risk

Nothing could be more symbolic of US financial muscle than a gleaming tower bearing the name of "Trump," rising spectacularly out of the centre of the Palm Jumeirah.

Yet the Middle East is a sensitive region with regards to American investment, and Dubai is a short flight from countries which may not view the coming of the Trump Organization in as positive a light as Nakheel obviously does.

However, Trump explains: "When you talk about the greatest risk -- there's a risk to everything. There's a risk to doing something in Manhattan. There's a risk to doing things no matter where you go in the world.

"Who would have ever thought the World Trade Center could have happened on September 11th? The world changes, and there's always a risk but I feel Dubai is very solid.

"There are people coming in and spending tens of billions of dollars in Dubai. The world has a big stake in Dubai because of all the investment that's been made and that makes it more solid in my opinion than most places."

So, The Don on Dubai: Solid, spectacular, land of "many opportunities" no less. The land of opportunity? Isn't that what they used to call the US?

"I think a lot of Americans agree with what they're doing in Dubai and I think they respect it and they see a country growing so rapidly and so well. There's great respect for that."

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