How Dubai Became Rich Without Inadequate OIL?!

Many of us might not know this, but Dubai is an Emirate of United Arab Emirates. It’s one out of 7 emirates of the country.  So, why draw the world with 300 million cubic meters of sand? Well, why drive million dollar police cars, or build a tower so tall you can watch the sunset, ride to the top, and watch it again, why build a ski resort in the middle of the dessert?  It probably sounds familiar: A country discovers its sitting on black gold and its royalty becomes unbelievable rich, while the average person can barely eat. Dubai does have oil, but today it only accounts for less than one percent of its GDP. What looks like pure extravagance is actually pure marketing genius, attracting 14 million international visitors a year, who spend more than any other city in the world, 65% more, even, than New York or London. The Burj Al Arab hotel, for example, only has 200 rooms, each two stories tall. It wasn't built to make a profit, but draw travelers with deep pockets.

 Geography is the recipe for civilization - it decide where people can go and what they can build, That's what makes Dubai so remarkable, it's the last place you'd want to found your city. The obvious reason is climate, which ranges from arid dessert to unbearably arid dessert. The entire 3.2 million square kilometer peninsula lacks a single natural river. 98.8% of Dubai's water has to be lumped from the Persian Gulf and desalinated. Okay, so terrible climate, plus poor agriculture plus no source of water, equals major international city?! But Dubai rises above all these difficulties to become a super city.

The reason behind the progressive development of the state can be due to the western methods that have been adopted by Dubai rulers. In the early 1980’s, it was understood that Dubai would not be able to last long in the competitive race if the focus was only given to oil resources. Thus foundations were laid for investments in real estate that are now the major backbone of the Arab economy. In the year 2000, the majority of property development started taking place in the vicinity. This gave a fresh impetus to the economy and literally led to a boom. In the year 2000, the world saw the opening of the Dubai Internet City. This invited global clients from all arenas and helped Dubai's businesses to leverage. The InfoTech hub was completely tax free and attracted lots of investors. The 2003 boom led many foreign investors to notice the emirates and then plan to invest there. The best part about the property rules at that was that property owners could only own their respective properties for a period of ninety-nine years and hence there was nothing called freehold rule.

 It was during this time that major buildings like the Burj Khalifa constructed by Emaar properties, Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Village and Burj Al-Arab, the World’s most expensive hotel and other such projects came underway. In today’s world Dubai is totally independent of oil and is the center of attraction for many of the investors across the world. It seems Dubai successfully overcome through the old tradition of oil wells in the Middle East.

SECRET BEHIND INDIA'S BOOMING ECONOMY

 As China's economy growth slows, people are looking for the next big driver of growth. And India seems to fit the bill. The IMF estimates that India will be the fastest growing major economy in the world this year, which is why companies like Walmart are paying top dollars for the business deals in India. It's projected to expand by 7.4%, putting it ahead of China. So, what's driving India's growth?

India has a population of 1.3 billion, making it the second most populous country in the world. It's on track to grow faster, even surpassing China's population by 2024. And that big population is also really young. India is on track to reap a handsome demographic dividend. The effects happens when a country's working age population is larger than the non-working age population. By 2050, India is expected to have a working population of more than one billion. While many Asian countries are aging, India's population has a medium age of only 27.3 years, compared to China 37.6 and Japan 47.1.
               

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into power in 2014, his government has attracted record foreign direct investment. Modi has been credited for his strong reform agenda to improve India's business environment. The World Bank gave a nod to his efforts, improving India's ranking in its Ease of doing business from 130 to 100. But the India's growth is like cricket game - full of promises, but it hasn't quite delivered yet. India grew faster than China between 2014 and 2016, but lost its fastest-growing major economy title last year.
                  
Within the country, domestic investments has fallen as businesses have been hesitant to invest. India's exports have also dropped since Modi came into power, despite his Made in India campaign meant to fire up the country's manufacturing industry. Economist says that domestic development are to blame. In November 2016, the government's withdrawal of 500 and 1000 rupee notes shocked the country. 86% of the country's currency could no longer be used in shops. Then, while businesses were trying to recover from that policy, the government implemented the goods and service tax in July 2017. It's the biggest tax reform since India's independence, consolidating India's many taxes into a single structure. The two policies on tax and demonetization hit consumption and investment hard, despite most economist agreeing to that the GST will bring long-term benefits to India.

 This year is likely to keep its title as the world's fastest major growing economy. But is faster fast enough? Former IMF chief economist and India's former RBI governor, Raghuram Rajan has said that India needs to grow much faster. He added, "India has about one million people entering the labor force every month. So that's a big number that has to be absorbed which means we need significantly more growth to get them good jobs." More than 25 million people, a number greater than Australia's population, applied for less than 90,000 jobs on India's state-run railways. Many multi-national companies are excited about India, dreaming about selling fast food, smartphones and fast fashion to a rapidly growing middle class. The double whammy of a weaker currency and growing oil prices are going to hit India hard. Despite its challenges, India continues to grow quickly. But will it be fast enough to benefit its people?

IS CPEC DESTROYING PAKISTAN? LONG TERM EFFECTS ON RELATION!!!

Another East India Company is in its full form to awake on the lands of pakistan; national interests are not being protected and preserved. We are proud of the strong relationship between Pakistan and China, but the interests of the state should come first to the priorities of the Government,” Senator Tahir Mashhadi, chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Planning and Development, said when some of the committee members raised the concern that the government was not protecting the rights and interests of the citizens.

The CPEC projects seems to have same consequences of East India Company.The East India Company was the British trading mission sent to India, which became the precursor to the British colonial presence in the subcontinent region, eventually gaining power and overthrowing the Mughals who ruled India at the time.

Succeeding a briefing by Planning Commission Secretary Yousuf Nadeem Khokhar, a number of committee members voiced their fears over what they percieved in their minds as the utilisation of local financing for CPEC projects, instead of funding from the Chinese or any other foreign investment. They also expressed concern over the fixing of power tariff for CPEC-related power projects by the Chinese.

         Lawmakers question why most corridor projects are being funded locally, not through direct foreign investment !

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The meeting was informed that a major portion of the CPEC depended on local finances rather than Chinese investment.“It will be very harmful for us if we have to bear the entire burden; will this [project] be a national development or a national calamity? Whatever loans taken from China will have to be paid by the poor people of Pakistan,” Mr Mashhadi observed.

Since only one of three Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) members of the committee was present at the meeting, most of this criticism went unanswered.Even Senator Saeedul Hassan Mandokhail endorsed the committee chairman’s complaints.

Highlighting the status of CPEC-related power projects, the Planning Commission secretary said that the Matiari-Lahore transmission line project had “not been scrapped” and was being pursued by its Chinese sponsors.

Recently, the National Energy Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) had approved tariff for the project, while the government’s Private Power Infrastructure Board had filed a review petition on the tariff in order to address the sponsors’ concerns.

At this, Senator Usman Khan Kakar pointed out that Nepra had fixed the power tariff for the project at 71 paisas/unit, while Chinese investors were demanding 95 paisas/unit.“The government has filed an appeal before Nepra, seeking the increase despite the fact that the burden will be borne by poor consumers,” he said.

The secretary also informed the committee that the Gadani power plant complex had been shelved due to the lack of a dedicated jetty.He also said that the 6,000MW project was not part of the CPEC. Lawmaker Kakar immediately reacted, saying that despite the fact that the project was not part of the CPEC, Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong had recently claimed that the Gadani power plant had not been scrapped and was indeed a part of the corridor. “Why is this project, which does not even exist, being counted in our account?” he asked.

He said that the infrastructure being established in Gwadar would only benefit the Chinese and Punjab governments, not the local community. “The people of Balochistan will only get one benefit from this project, which is the water supply,” he said, adding that no electricity or railway projects had been planned for Balochistan under the CPEC.

Senator Mandokhail said that a sense of deprivation was being instilled in smaller provinces. “We do not want the CPEC at the cost of the federation,” he added. Since Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal was not present in the meeting, the senator urged the secretary to advise him to ensure the integrity of the federation.

Lawmaker Mandokhail also accused the Planning Commission of prioritising Balochistan very low on its list, given that it has not representation in the commission itself. Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Senator Sirajul Haq said that like certain other parts of the country, Fata and AJK were also being neglected in the CPEC. “There is nothing for both areas in the CPEC,” he said and suggested that a 35km road was built to link Muzaffarabad to the CPEC so that the people of AJK could also reap its benefits.