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Facing page: Restless Planet; Mall of Arabia
What have been the major lessons for the industry moving forward
Below: Wadi Walk
out of this crisis?
Dubai is still a strong option for investors, however, we cannot
de-couple ourselves from the larger global reality. Investors are
still available, but will be more selective in the future. Investors will
be looking for quality and will retreat to proven developers and
names to try and protect their investments. This presents an
excellent opportunity for top tier developers like City of Arabia.
Outside of the UAE which Middle East destinations do you believe
will be strong future growth markets?
The Middle East region has vast opportunities. Qatar, Bahrain and
destinations within Saudi Arabia are undoubtedly strong growth
markets. However, we have made our home within the UAE and
are first and foremost proud to be a part of the growth of this
incredible place.
Have you benchmarked your master plan against those in other
regional or international markets?
We’ve drawn lessons from other developers, both in this region
and around the world. We have also hired the ‘best in class’ in
terms of our partners, again, from the region and around the world.
For example, on Restless Planet alone, we have put together an
impressive team of experts to ensure we bring the very best in
education and entertainment to our visitors, including:
Are you networking more with your peers in 2009? ¥ The Natural History Museum, London which is pre-eminent in its
We are leveraging our relationships with peers as much as role as advisors to the Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari Group for the
possible. Events such as Cityscape Abu Dhabi and Cityscape creation of Restless Planet. As one of the world’s most famous
Dubai help with that. We will continue to build on those museums it has a collection of over 70 million specimens, a team of
relationships as the development takes shape. 350 scientists and a long tradition of world-class science. It will
ensure the scientific accuracy of the animatronic dinosaurs and
Does the industry - at all levels - need to become more transparent ? bring the latest findings in dinosaur research to public notice in Dubai.
Transparency benefits everyone because it engenders trust and
accountability. We always strive to provide clarity to our ¥ Dr Jack Horner who is the famous palaeontologist and real life
investors as it is important for City of Arabia to develop inspiration for the book ‘Jurassic Park’, and who also advised Stephen
long-term relationships which provide mutually beneficial results. Spielberg on the movie franchise. Horner discovered his first dinosaur
fossil when he was eight years old and also discovered the first
Is there a need for more opportunities for professional development clutches of dinosaur eggs found in North America, the first baby
within the industry in the Middle East? dinosaur nests found anywhere in the world, and two entirely new
Training helps to set benchmarks. Most of the training at City of dinosaur species. He has challenged conventional thinking about
Arabia and Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari Group is done in-house to dinosaurs, theorising that some dinosaurs were warm-blooded,
ensure that staff are kept up-to-speed on best practice. travelled in flocks or herds, and were far more similar to mammals or
birds than reptiles. His findings will be on display at Restless Planet.
Are investors more likely to enter a market where they know they
can deal with properly qualified professionals? ¥ Kokoro Creations, who have been manufacturing models of dinosaurs
We encourage investors to carry out their own due diligence to and making them increasingly active and lifelike since 1978. They are
ensure they are dealing with professional organisations. The the leading makers of robotically-controlled animatronics dinosaurs,
Galadari family has been doing business in Dubai for 50 years and and over 500 of their creations can be found all over the world, ranging
has built a reputation for bold enterprise and commercial activity. in size from the 22-metre long Apatosaurus down to baby raptors.
We have proven our business credibility many times over the Kokoro now make dozens of species of dinosaur, all of which are as
years, and hope that our investors take confidence from this. scientifically accurate as possible.
t
PREVIEW Cityscape Dubai
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