Moving forward

In the last month I have had the privilege of interviewing numerous CEOs of high-profile companies across the world of real estate.

In days gone by it was difficult to get a fleeting moment with some of these business people and at times it took weeks to arrange a mere 10-minute chat.

Now, when everyone in the property world needs reassurance, a confidence boost and the opinion of these professionals as to what is happening with their own developments and the real estate market in general - they have all stepped forward in what I believe are their most candid interviews yet.

While most were not suprised at the effect of the global financial crisis on the Middle East and in particular on Dubai, many were shocked at the speed of the impact and even the most media-trained could not disguise the look of concern.

The underlying theme and message from almost all of the interviews with these major developers was an acknowledgement that they need to go back to the basics of running a business, to uphold committments to end-users by completing developments, to cut costs and to take a realistic wait-and-see approach before starting any more new projects, at least in 2009.

What’s more, (perhaps part PR-spin and also part genuine hope,) all were optimistic that in time (and it will take time) Dubai will rise up out of the economic storm to once again show the world that its imagination and creativity is second to none.

Kim Latham is the editor of Arabian Property English.

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