The economy of Dubai, whose financial woes rattled world markets in late 2009, is tipped to grow over the next two years on the back of robust economic activity in Asia, economists said on Wednesday. "We're quite bullish" about economic growth in the Gulf emirate, a big-spending boomtown before its debt crisis, said Farouk Soussa, chief economist at Citibank.
"This year, we expect growth to be at 4.5 percent. We expect growth in 2012 to be at 6.3 percent," Soussa told participants at a conference on Dubai's economic outlook. Its economy contracted about 2.4 percent in 2009, according to Dubai's Department of Economic Development (DED), after the world financial crisis dried out foreign backing for an economy growing at breakneck speed.
DED chief economist, Mohammed Lahouel, also sounded upbeat on economic growth prospects for the trade hub, pointing out that trade and logistics such as ports were spearheading the recovery. "Given the vibrant recovery of the trade and logistics sector, growth is expected to accelerate in 2011... Conservative estimates would put growth between three to four percent in 2011," he said. "It was at 2.5 percent in 2010," he added. Dubai is geographically well-located to reap benefits from rapid economic growth in Asia, according to Marios Maratheftis, a research chief at Standard Chartered bank.