Dubai's Al Mal Capital to hire 20% more staff

Dubai’s Al Mal Capital is looking to hire up to 20 percent more staff in 2013, its deputy chairman said in an interview with Bloomberg.

The investment bank, whose shareholders include members of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, said Dubai’s economic recovery is helping to boost its business.

“The first phase was to swim and survive, and we survived,” Naser Nabulsi, deputy chairman of Al Mal Capital said.

“2013 is going to be a good year for companies who prepared for the next cycle.”

Dubai, which was hit hard by the global economic downturn, is starting to show a sign of a recovery as its economy expands and it continues to benefit as a safe haven amid the Arab Spring.

Al Mal Capital cut its staff to 20 from more than 100 and shut its brokerage department in the wake of the economic downturn. 

“We’ve seen fierce cash coming into Dubai equities from Saudi, Qatar and foreign funds and into real estate,” he said.

“There’s a fundamental shift in Dubai’s image and this has a lot to do with the market momentum and investors’ confidence.”

The recovery “is real and will continue going forward,” he added.  “When things are looking good for the economy, we’re going to do just as well.”