Tag Archives: inspection
Bollywood star full of praise for ‘amazing’ Dubai
Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan believes that Dubai has emerged as a cultural hub and he hailed the city as “amazing”.In an interview with City Times, Mr Bachchan said he has admiration for the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai.It is easy to forget that Dubai was just a small Gulf town just a few decades ago and its transformation into one of the most vibrant cities on the planet has been remarkable.Mr Bachchan believes the emirate has managed to mix old and new seamlessly.”This cultural shift is truly remarkable. Earlier one wouldn't quite associate the emirate with literary events and festivals. Now Dubai has become the most happening address on the cultural firmament,” he told the news provider.”It has upscale infrastructure and a very exciting verve to it. Dubai is a lively cosmopolitan city.”You only have to look at the plethora of ultra-modern skyscrapers that have sprung up across Dubai to see why it is seen as a pioneering city.With record-breaking buildings such as the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall, it is easy to understand why other parts of the world use the emirate as a blueprint for how to build a vibrant metropolis.Dubai is within easy reach of India, which perhaps explains why it is so popular among the Bollywood fraternity.Earlier this year, Emirates 24/7 reported that another popular actor – Salman Khan – was considering buying property in the area.His brother Sohail told the news provider that the pair had been looking for a new home in the UAE, as it is a “beautiful and safe country”.The fact that Dubai is just two and a half hours from Mumbai also made the city a very attractive place to live, he suggested.A multitude of exciting new developments are springing up all the time, so people who are planning to relocate to the Middle East will have no shortage of choice when they browse the property market. Continue reading
Dubai citizens to benefit from free city-wide Wi-Fi?
People in Dubai could soon have access to an outdoor Wi-Fi network as they make their way around the city, according to one tech expert.Rabih Dabboussi, managing director of Cisco Middle East, said internet services are set for major growth across the region and cities in the UAE could be next in line to benefit from network upgrades.Mr Dabboussi told Emirates 24/7 that “city-wide coverage of Wi-Fi” will be a key future trend as technology progresses and people grow more accustomed to being connected to the internet at all times. Outdoor wireless services are expected to rise in prominence, eventually replacing 3G and even the newer 4G services for many users.The publication noted that Dubai could follow in the footsteps of Santa Clara in California, which recently launched a free outdoor Wi-Fi service for the entire community made possible by the installation of smart metering technology.”Today, most of the people are connected, tomorrow everything else will be interconnected,” Mr Dabboussi explained.The senior executive added that Cisco is “focused on assisting businesses and governments in the Middle East to innovate, evolve and increase productivity”.Dubai is now recognised as a hub for technology and innovation in the Middle East, with the emirate's Dubai Internet City and Dubai Outsource Zone recording a 15 per cent growth in tenants last year.The two IT-focused business parks signed up 160 new companies between them in 2012, according to a statement issued earlier this month.Malek Al Malek, managing director of both zones, commented: “2012 was a particularly strong year for our cluster. Not only did we welcome some of the industry's biggest players such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Interglobe, we also saw the expansion of existing partners.”He added that Dubai now offers “a prosperous ecosystem for technology companies”. Continue reading
Dubai International Airport ‘will remain a top priority’
Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has insisted that the expansion of the city's main airport will continue to remain a priority.The UAE prime minister recently visited the aviation facility and he was happy with the work that has taken place in Terminal 2.Once the new hall opens on April 29th, the state-of-the-art terminal will be capable of accommodating 7.5 million passengers a year.More than 57.6 million people passed through the airport last year and this figure is expected to rise to 66 million in 2013. The overall capacity of the airport has increased to 75 million passengers per year and it is predicted to be the busiest aviation hub on earth in the next few years if current rates of expansion persist.Mr Al Maktoum was quoted by the WAM news agency as saying that Dubai International “represents the face of the country and is the symbol of its culture and progress”.He also paid a visit to the Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZA), which continues to attract scores of influential investors.The facility was first established in 1996 as part of the government's plans to move the city towards an investment driven economy and it is now home to more than 1,600 companies from a range of sectors, including freight and logistics, IT and aviation.There are many incentives for firms to set up a base in the DAFZA, as they receive 100 per cent exemption from corporate tax, import and export duty and personal income tax. This perhaps explains why so much money has been poured into the area in the past 17 years.Mr Al Maktoum toured a number of the buildings that have sprung up throughout the free zone and he was clearly very impressed with what he saw.”The success achieved by the DAFZA is a first step forward for more progress in the way of excellence that we thrive,” he added. Continue reading
