DUBAI'S "EXECUTIVE OFFICE" SPLITS INTO BUSINESS AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBAI 000092 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/8/2015 TAGS: PGOV EINV ECON TC SUBJECT: DUBAI'S "EXECUTIVE OFFICE" SPLITS INTO BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT ARMS REF: A) DUBAI 4630 B) DUBAI 4361 C) DUBAI 5013 D) DUBAI 3286 E) DU I 4719 AND PREVIOUS F) DUBAI 2849 G) DUBAI 49 H) DUBAI 1466 CLASSIFIED BY: Jason Davis, Consul General, Dubai , UAE. REASON: 1.4 (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Dubai's "Executive Office," headed by Mohammed Gergawi, has long been a key player in "Dubai Inc," the term used to describe the various parastatal organizations that the Ruler's Office has set up to manage and oversee the development of Dubai. The Executive Office has recently been split into two separate arms, one (known as "Dubai Holding") consisting of all the for-profit businesses, and a second consisting of the regulatory and governmental functions of the rump Executive Office. Still fully owned by the Dubai government, Dubai Holding is now organized as a major corporation, with six companies worth billions of dollars under its umbrella. The three regulatory/government entities of the Executive Office, meanwhile, have been organized as separate government agencies. The purpose of the restructuring, according to Dubai Holding CFO Fadel Al Ali, is to adopt international standards of corporate governance and transparency so that Dubai Holding can emerge as a respected global player. End Summary. From the Executive Office to Dubai Holding -------------- ¶2. (U) Dubai's "Executive Office," headed by Mohammed Gergawi, has long been a key player in "Dubai Inc," the term used loosely to describe the various parastatal organizations that the Dubai Ruler's Office set up to manage and oversee the development of Dubai. (The other two major components of Dubai, Inc are Sultan bin Sulayem's "Corporate Office," which includes Dubai Ports and Customs as well as the real estate giant "Nakheel"; and Mohammed Al-Abbar's "Emaar," another real estate giant.) ¶3. (U) Until recently, the Executive Office was an umbrella organization incorporating both business and government operations -- everything from the quasi-governmental Dubai Development and Investment Authority (DDIA) to the purely for-profit Dubai Internet City. On October 8, however, the government of Dubai announced that the Executive Office would be split up into three "independent" government bodies and one private corporation which would be known as "Dubai Holding." With Dubai Crown Prince and de facto ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid (MbR) as its Chairman, Dubai Holding is one of the biggest companies in the region, holding billions of dollars in assets. It remains 100 percent owned by the government of Dubai, though rumors abound that it was spun off from the Executive Office in part so that it can eventually be taken public in an IPO. ¶4. (C) On January 2, PolEconoff spoke to Fadel Al Ali, Chief Financial Officer of Dubai Holding and formerly a Citibank Dubai executive for 18 years, about the reasons behind the recent restructuring. Al Ali's take was that Dubai, now that it was emerging as a major international player, needed to meet accepted international standards -- and this meant in part "drawing a line" between the government and the private sector. He said Dubai Holding would have a corporate structure, clear standards of corporate governance, a board, and -- eventually -- a public declaration of its balance sheet. "We are perhaps 70 percent transparent now; our aim is to become 100 percent transparent. We can no longer be run on a project-by-project basis....His Highness's (MbR's) vision is for Dubai Holding to be a truly multinational company." Al Ali predicted that Sultan bin Sulayem's Corporate Office (Ref A) -- see para 2, above -- would soon undergo a similar restructuring. Dubai Holding -- The Breakdown -------------- ¶5. (C) Al Ali said Dubai Holding (DH) was essentially a shell company, and one with a very small staff. "We basically created a mother after the birth of the children," he noted wryly. Al Ali said DH had nine Board Members (not including MbR) and that there were six distinct companies inside Dubai Holding. Gergawi (as CEO),Al Ali himself, and the CEO's of the six companies CEO's were all Board Members; the ninth board member was the head of MbR's private "Investment Office" (which is charged with investing MbR's personal wealth),selected because his office has large investments in DH. ¶6. (C) The first of DH's six companies is TECOM Investments, headed by CEO Ahmed Bin Byat. TECOM includes Internet City, Media City, Knowledge Village, Arabian Radio Network, and several other media-related firms. The second of the six DH companies, run by Saeed Al Muntafig (who also heads DDIA -- see para 7) is known as "Tatweer Dubai" ("Developing Dubai"). Tatweer controls free zone projects such as Dubai Healthcare City (in cooperation with Harvard Medical -- ref B),Dubai Humanitarian City (ref C),and large non-free zone projects such as Dubailand and Dubai Industrial City. The third DH company is Dubai Properties, the property development and management arm of DH, run by Hashem Al Dabal. (Dubai Properties controls the USD two billion freehold real estate development Jumeirah Beach Residence (ref D) as well as "Business Bay," the newly-announced multi-billion dollar project to develop and extend Dubai's Creek into a high-rise lined arc stretching back through the desert to Sheikh Zayid road.) ¶7. (C) The fourth arm of DH is Dubai International Capital, a completely new entity run by Sameer Al Ansari, until recently Chief Financial Officer of the Executive Office. (Al Ansari's company will invest money raised by the DH's other branches into companies in the Middle East, Europe, and the US. The fifth company, Jumeirah International, has a hotel and hospitality focus; it is headed by Gerald Lawless. (Jumeirah owns the landmark "seven star" Burj Al Arab Hotel, the Emirates Towers Hotel, and several other hotels in Dubai and the UK.) The sixth and final DH company is Dubai International Properties, headed by Farhan Faraidooni, which will invest in projects throughout the region, including Lebanon, Libya, and Qatar. The Government Authorities -------------- ¶8. (C) The spin-off of all the Executive Office's business projects into DH left a rump Executive office now divided into three governmental entities. The first of those, TECOM Authority, does licensing, free zone rules, and other government activities for the TECOM free zones (including Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City). A second governmental entity, the Dubai Development and Investment Authority (DDIA),run by Saeed Al Muntafiq, is the project-germinating wing of the government and will continue to generate ideas aimed at attracting outside investment to further develop Dubai. DDIA has responsibility for the planned Dubai Mercantile Exchange, to be jointly run with the New York Mercantile Exchange (ref E). ¶9. (C) The third governmental entity remaining following the spin-off of Dubai Holding will oversee existing government improvement-related initiatives such as the Dubai Government Excellence Program (ref F) and the new Dubai School of Government (ref G). This third entity will continue to be known, somewhat confusingly, as "The Executive Office." According to Al Ali, the new Executive Office will "backstop" the Executive Council, Dubai's Cabinet-like government consultative body made up of all the Dubai government department heads and chaired by MbR (Ref H). Nabil Al Yousuf, a top director at the Executive Office, told us the new Executive Office would liaise with all the government departments and present new policy initiatives to the Executive Council. DH's Al Ali, however, downplayed the Executive Office's role, saying it would be "limited to government performance benchmarking, education programs, and improvement of government efficiency." Comment -------------- ¶10. (C) "Dubai, Inc." is the somewhat sardonic catchphrase used to describe the government-led, public-private sector partnerships that have been responsible for Dubai's meteoric rise from a smallish fishing and trading town to something approaching a world-class metropolis. The restructuring of the Executive Office and the spinning off of Dubai Holding suggests that Dubai's leaders understand the need for greater transparency and better business practices. The restructuring is also a tacit acknowledgement that the blurry borders between government and business that have served Dubai so well until now could become a liability as Dubai's focus becomes more international. DAVIS