State-controlled investment group Dubai World said on Thursday it has cut back its world-wide workforce by 15 percent to below 70,000 because of the global financial crisis. The job cuts were greatest in the United Arab Emirates itself at 25 percent because of the downturn in the regional real estate market, Dubai World said in a statement.
The restructuring operation will result in a saving of more than 800 million dollars over the next three years, it said. Dubai World is a major operator of ports across the globe, and its subsidiaries include property division Nakheel, investment business Istithmar World and newly-created retail management arm Retailcorp World.
"Each Dubai World division is now more appropriately sized for the current market while at the same time well placed to take advantage of the eventual economic recovery," the statement said. In March port operator DP World announced a 48-percent growth in profits in 2008 over the previous year, despite declining business in the final quarter because of the global financial crisis.
One of the largest marine ports operators in the world, DP World announced in January that it was reviewing expansion plans and freezing recruitment faced with a slowdown in the container terminal industry. Credit ratings agency Standard and Poor's Corp said on Thursday that state-related companies in Dubai are due to repay nearly 50 billion dollars in debt - 70 percent of the Gulf emirate's estimated GDP - within the next three years.
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