Indoor Ski Resort and Mall of the Emirates

Also known for the Tiger Woods Golf Tournament and the World's Richest Horse Race, Dubai is home to several engineering marvels such as this Ski Dubai, the indoor ski resort as seen on The Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Modern Marvels and the Travel Channel.

In the booming economy of the Middle East, even a trip to the local shopping mall can be pretty exciting. In Dubai, This mall attracts locals and tourists alike. The most popular feature of the mall (and most notable) is Ski Dubai, an indoor ski resort. From the outside of the mall you can see the construction needed to sustain the largest indoor ski resort, which features a full size ski mountain.

UAE Construction Workers

Migrant workers make up over 85% of the population of the UAE (United Arab Emirates), a booming construction area with dozens of large multi phase developments such in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and other emirates include projects such as the Burj Dubai, Ski Dubai, Dubailand and the Mall of Arabia. Migrant workers make up virtually every category of employee in the UAE from CEOs and engineers to cement mixers, drivers, accountants and janitors. Highly skilled and educated workers from western nations come to the Middle East for tax free income and often increased wages and opportunity. Most attention to migrant workers focuses on the manual laborers. Numbering over 300,000, manual laborers make up a large amount of the population. Attention has focused on these workers for their wages and working conditions which are generally poor by western standards.

Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and other wealth oil exporting nations also have large numbers of migrant workers who are mostly focused on building infrastructure and implementing the huge investments made by these countries. Workers come from all over the world in addition to the higher paid, educated and skilled workers from the UK, US, Ireland and throughout Europe and Asia, manual laborers come from Myanmar (Burma), India, Pakistan, Somalia or other countries. India and Pakistan also have a large number of highly skilled and highly paid workers.

Lack of unions and organized labor makes life for the construction workers very different from the US however most workers are very happy for the opportunity and the economics of wage equalization exist because of a very liberal work immigration policy and a robust economy.

Largest Mall in the World – Dubai UAE

This video shows the construction area just outside the city, the area where the one of the worlds largest malls is being constructed. The leader of Dubai, Sheik Mohammad bin Rashid al Maktoum is one of the great visionaries of today. Under his leadership, as well as his family, Dubai has grown from a small out of the way city to an international business and tourism center.

Dubai is one illustration of the changing face of the Gulf and the Arab world and the Middle East as a whole. Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as well as other areas in the UAE such as Abu Dhabi are all undergoing a similar transformation.

World's Fastest Growing City

Dubai City, Dubai is the world's fastest growing city. This video compares footage taken of Dubai City in Fall 2006 with footage taken in Spring 2007. In a matter of months, new buildings appear in the perpetually changing Dubai City skyline. Various news articles state that tens of thousands of construction cranes are currently in Dubai, reportedly up to a third of all of the cranes in the world. It is quite amazing to see the speed at which they are working. Recently the height of the Burj Dubai passed the 1,500 foot mark and today it continues to reach towards the sky. Dubai City is in a constant state of growth.

Tallest Building in the World

The Burj Dubai has been designed to be the centerpiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development that will include 30,000 homes, nine hotels, 6 acres of parkland, 19+ residential towers, the Dubai Mall, and a large man-made lake. The complete 500 acre development will cost about $20 billion dollars (US). Once completed, the tower will cover a total of over 22 million square feet of development.

The official height of the Burj Dubai is kept secret because of international competition, but current estimates have it rising to a height in excess of 2,600 feet.

Jim Rogers on Dubai, China, the US and Globalization

Dubai, China, the US and globalization from the man who may know it best. A conversation with legendary investor, adventurer and traveler Jim Rogers. Mr. Rogers and George Soros were co-founders of the famous Quantum Fund, one of the most successful funds of all time.

Mr. Rogers's extraordinary track record and insights alone set him apart from so many peers but perhaps most interesting is his take on the global economy. Mr. Rogers has traveled around the world twice, on an ambitious 250,000 mile journey to over 115 countries.

Middle East 2.0 Dubai - World Business and Tourism hub

The Biggest Story in the World

Dubai City, Dubai - home of the world's largest construction site and one of the most amazing stories in our world today.While millions flock to Dubai annually, from an American perspective it's "the Middle East we don't know".

Still surrounded in misunderstanding by so many in the US, the massively positive story of Dubai and Middle East 2.0 is the real story of change in the Gulf. It is a story of peaceful, constructive excellence and the pursuit of dreams. A story very much in line with true American values.