The investment company controlled by the ruler of Dubai wants to extend its debt payback by three months. This had raised questions on just how far deep are Dubai’s credit problems.
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Dubai International Capital, owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, said in a short statement Thursday that it has asked lenders for an extension “of certain maturities” until September 30.
“The extension period would allow the implementation of a consensual longer term plan that would enable DIC to maximize the value of its business for the benefit of all its stakeholders,” the company said.
DIC did not give more details of its debt involved. The company has a $1.25 billion loan coming in June.
“The extension period would allow the implementation of a consensual longer-term plan that would enable DIC to maximise the value of its business for the benefit of all its stakeholders,” said the DIC.
DIC will “continue to pay interest” during the extension period, its spokeswoman said.
The parent firm of DIC – Dubai Holding, which is also run by the Sheikh – is believed to have debts mounting to a total of $15 billion. The International Monetary Firm believes the entire Sheikhdom is about $109 billion in debt.
Princess Haya inaugurated the seventh annual Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development conference (DIHAD) on Sunday, which had this year’s theme as “Global Health Challenges of Tomorrow: Impact & Response.” Several international organizations gathered to discussed the recent humanitarian crisis in Haiti, food shortage and climate change.
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During DIHAD’s opening ceremony, Haya spoke of the need to bring changes to humanitarianism as its demand grows.
“The traditional solution to hunger is simply to produce more food – more wheat, maize or rice. It is not that simple. We need the right foods for the right people at the right times in their lives. To deal with hunger effectively, we need to target our interventions better,” she said. “Ultimately, we need to modify behaviors and encourage healthy lifestyles in order to reduce the soaring burden.”
The Princess also voiced her concern about the way aid money is raised and spent.
“Too often there is a humanitarian industry or a humanitarian bureaucracy that consumes too much of what is donated,” she said. “If we are to make progress on issues like hunger or the epidemic of obesity and cope with the massive humanitarian emergencies, the culture of aid must change.”
“The biggest global health challenges that we will face tomorrow are the ones we are creating today,” she continued. “Globalization, population growth, and climate change, all man-made, will have significant impacts on health.”
Haya also mentioned two major food problems: hunger and obesity, both of which are and will cause more health issues in the future.
“Despite a sharp rise in obesity rates, under-nutrition is still probably the greatest immediate threat to global health because it plays such a large role in deaths among young children,” she said. “But, the tsunami-like surge of overeating occurring worldwide is now creating a massive public health challenge in the form of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, stroke and heart disease.”
After DIHAD’s opening ceremony, Princess Haya was given a tour of the exhibits and stands set up for the conference. In this way, she met over 275 humanitarian and charity associations, relief agencies, NGOs, donors and procurers. Some of them included UNICEF, the World Food Program and the UAE Red Crescent Society.
On Tuesday, Dubai’s Princess Haya inaugurated the UAE Nursing and Midwifery Council at the emirate’s Atlantis in the Palm. It comes one year after Haya’s husband, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, decreed the council to show the UAE’s dedication to improving health care.
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Among those in attendance were Dr. Hanif Hassan Ali, UAE Minister of Health, Humaid Al Qutami, UAE Minister of Education, and Princess Muna, the mother of King Abdullah II of Jordan – Princess Haya’s half-brother. Muna is President of the Jordanian Nursing Council (JNC) and Patron of Nursing & Midwifery for the WHO-EMRO.
Dr. Hanif Hassan Ali gave a speech during the ceremony, in which he said: “The Council will also authorize health organizations as nursing training centers, stipulate the foundations and criteria for raising the profession’s standards, propose new legislations and practices to promote nursing and midwifery to achieve quality and excellence in their services.”
At the end of the inauguration, the two Princesses and Dr. Ali gave out certificates to the Council’s task force members. Princess Muna also gave Haya an award on behalf of the Jordanian Nursing Council.
Haya and Muna have a close relationship. Princess Muna was wife to the late King Hussein until the mid-1970′s when he divorced her to marry Alia Touqan, Haya’s mother. Sadly, Queen Alia would die in a 1977 helicopter crash, and Princess Muna comforted the Queen’s three very young children. The Princess once said in an interview that Muna, “has been more like a mother to me than anyone else I know.”
On Sunday, the wife of the Sheikh of Dubai, Princess Haya, inaugurated the Family Gathering Village in Dubai’s Al Khawaneej area. The village is a family oriented project which includes theaters, poetry cafe, houses of crafts and other forms of entertainment and culture. It will run until March 27th.
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As patron of the Family Gathering Village, Haya visited various areas of the village, starting with the traditional area. She commended the creativity and energy the different locations gave off and admired the products on display.
After touring the traditional part, the Princess then visited the Village’s Souq. Many items at the Souq, like perfumes, clothing, accessories, were created by young children as part of the Souq’s efforts to encourage children’s projects.
Colonel Ahmed Al Mansoori, spokesman of the Family Gathering Village, explained that the event is a new addition to the family development strategy recently adopted by the government. Holding such events, he claims, will have positive results on the entire community.
In April, Dubai will be hosting the 2010 SportAccord International Convention, one of the major networking events for leaders in sports. During a press conference today, Princess Haya, the wife of the Sheikh of Dubai, talked about why the emirate is an ideal location for the convention.
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“As a leading trade, tourism and business hub and as a center of sports in this region Dubai is ideally suited for this role,” she explained. “The promoters were right in choosing Dubai as a destination.”
Haya, who is president of the International Equestrian Federation as well as an IOC member, will be working with the Dubai Sports Council in hosting the event.
The SportAccord International Convention will take place on the Jumeirah Island between April 25 – 30th, with over 1,500 representatives gathering.
The wife of the ruler of Dubai, Princess Haya, called for more investment into medical research during a conference in Egypt on Friday.
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“The progress that we have seen in the last 25 years in pediatric cardiology could not have happened without adequate funding,” the Princess said. “Many efforts have been made, but much more needs to be done as we acquire more experience and develop better relationships with international groups to spread the benefits of medical research as widely as possible.”
Haya serves as an honorary president of the Chain of Hope, which is part of the Aswan Heart Center in Egypt, where yesterday’s conference took place.
In honor of Haya’s efforts to draw more attention to pediatric health in the Mideast region, the Center will name its pediatric unit, which is to open in 2011, after the Princess’s daughter, Sheikha Al Jalila.
Al Jalila, who will be 3 this year, already has a housing unit for pediatric cardiology patients in South Africa named after her, plus an Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital in the United Arab Emirates.
The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, inaugurated the world’s tallest structure in the heart of the emirate today. The skyscraper, named Burj Khalifa (Khalifa Tower), stands at over 800 meters, or half a mile high.
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The Sheikh gave a short speech before officially opening the 200-story tower. In it, he changed the name of the building from Burj Dubai to Burj Khalifa, after the ruler of neighboring emirate, Abu Dhabi, and President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
It is possible the structure’s name was changed to thank Al-Nahyan for bailing Dubai out of an $80 billion debt crisis late last year.
Burj Khalifa opened with fireworks fired from the building itself, as well as a lighting show. At the same time, the waters of Dubai Fountain, the world’s largest, danced to traditional Arabic music.
The tower will be mostly residential, with about 37 floors for offices.
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This past weekend saw the 6th annual Dubai International Film Festival open. Royals and celebrities from all over the Middle East have been taking part in the event, and among them is Jordan’s Queen Noor. She spoke at Sunday’s annual Culture Bridge panel as a guest of honor.
In her speech, the Queen said media platforms like this Film Festival (DIFF) can bring exposure on a global scale about the perspectives and narratives of one another’s culture. For example, movies like Burdus, which was shown at the panel, have the power to open communication and display how media can influence people.
Queen Noor cited personal examples and insights when she explained that media has the power to shift behavior and thinking, and can cut through differences and promote peace and prosperity.
Click here to see an interview with the Queen about how movies can help solve certain situations, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Earlier this week, Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said the media exaggerated his emirate’s debt crisis, and that the world is being misled over how Dubai would solve the problem. The Sheikh also verbally attacked international investors by saying, “they do not understand anything.”
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Speaking in an e-mailed statement, the Sheikh, who is also prime minister and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates, said “The media hype is exaggerated and will not hurt our perseverance. Dubai World is independent from the [UAE]government.”
“We are strong and persistent,” he added. “It is the fruit-bearing tree that becomes the target of [stone] throwers.”
Dubai World, the state-run company behind the sheikhdom’s property boom, began talks with banks yesterday on how to fix the $26 billion debt. It is also seeking to delay pay backs on less than half of its $59 billion of obligations, easing the possible damage to banks recovering from the credit crisis.
Analysts are saying there is now deep distrust towards Dubai, and a lot of work needs to be done to repair that.
Meanwhile, despite the emirate’s financial problems, Sheikh Mohammed still found the time to purchase some racing horses. Two days before Dubai sent shockwaves across global stockmarkets, he bought eight horses for almost $2 million.
“The horse side of the business is the private enjoyment of Sheikh Mohammed, so therefore has nothing whatever to do with the government, or government funds and the restructuring,” said John Ferguson, the Sheikh’s horse buying adviser.
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