Back in time, during the 1890s, UAE survived through fishing and pearls which were their major occupation. The UAE was made up of 7 kingdoms. After the British left, all the kingdoms collaborated and created a new country. During the 1950’s Sheikh Rashid was the ruler. He is also known as the father of Dubai. In his visionary leadership, a place with no water resources and severe conditions has seen major changes. During those times, Sheikh Rashid wanted to expand Dubai as a trade, finance and tourist hub.
Initially, as it was covered with coastal regions, the ruler initiated the construction of ports across the UAE. They constructed port Rashid and made it a trade hub. Most of the world’s ships would halt and pave the way towards trade. As they mostly focused on trade and ports, Dubai started growing better than many places. They focused on skilled labour to build better infrastructure facilities, which later gave them growth.
*The real growth and change came when oil was discovered, and it started making millions of dollars. Dubai established themselves as an emerging nation but they had to build air space for UAE, so during those times the world's air traffic was secured by Pakistan as their safe place to use. Pakistan was strategically located a good location with proper communication systems. Due to that, Pakistan grew its civil aviation sector to great extent.
*The Dubai ruler wanted to do the same by giving Pakistan a huge amount. He started bringing aircraft from Pakistan. Eventually, from imports to making their own flights. Later The Dubai aircraft and flights became a hub of refueling stations for all countries dominating Pakistan.
*Another big milestone for Dubai was its tourism sector as it is a coastal place with tourists keep on visiting to experience Dubai. They started construction of hotels and restaurants by adding glamour to it by calling all the wealthiest, most intellectual people so that tourist growth would increase across the world towards Dubai. Scientists, actors, athletes, business man, and singers can get citizenship but will never get voting rights. To build such a large scale infrastructure, the requirement for water needs 10 times more than before, as the UAE is full of salt water and coastal places. The ruler initiated a desalination approach where seawater could be used as drinking water.
*To attract more visitors, the tax system of Dubai is unique and less compared to the world. These benefits allowed citizens to have a better lifestyle and earning capacity of profits. The investors and business leaders can feel secure while investing in Dubai. When it comes to security, it is one of the best cities for security and safety of citizens. A crime in UAE would deal with extreme punishments and penalties.
*To become Dubai and to construct such large-scale infrastructures it took years of time and need for skilled workers who were hired from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal. As the labour cost was less and through the kafala system, where private players hire people from other nations and provide employment.
*There have been few incidents reported of manipulating the workers by making them sign wrong contracts and grabbing passports even after the contracts have finished. These led to severe allegations against the government by the media saying it was modern slavery. The women's laws are also extremely strict and laws try to create hindrances to freedom according to the western nations. A population of 4 million people overall with locals and skilled workers has created one of the richest countries in the world. Once upon a time it was called dry and tough with no scope of development, but today it is one of the safest countries in the world, attracting the world as an investment, trade and tourism hub.
