The Gulf emirate of Dubai said on Thursday that it is "fully prepared" to host the United Nations headquarters, an idea floated by US magazine Forbes. "Dubai is fully prepared to host the UN's headquarters on its soil if UN officials decide to move the headquarters from New York," the formerly booming emirate said in an official statement.
Dubai said it was ready to open dialogue with UN officials on the potential benefits - in terms of geographic location, communications and infrastructure - that the emirate could provide. It has invested heavily in infrastructure, including a metro and several highways. Oil-rich Abu Dhabi provided Dubai with 10 billion dollars in assistance on December 14, averting an imminent default by Dubai-owned company Nakheel on 4.1 billion dollars in debt.
Estimates of the debts of Dubai, which earlier this month opened the world's tallest building and has invested heavily to become a business, new technology and tourism hub, range between 80 and 120 billion dollars. "The whole wild enterprise known as Dubai could signal a potential opportunity to the global community: turning the place into the headquarters for that other misguided ship, the United Nations," Forbes said this week. "Bringing the United Nations to Dubai makes sense," it said.