The Art of Slowing Down
188: Why the UAE’s Growth Story Is Now Impossible to Ignore
“You are the real wealth, not the 3 million barrels of oil. You are the future of this nation’s security and safety net. We are in a good condition now, but we want to establish the vision for 50 years ahead.” -Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Earlier this year I wrote two pieces, “Why UAE Investments Could Deliver Massive Returns for Years to Come” and “Planes, Properties, and Profits: Why the Gulf Keeps Gaining” which focused on why I am long the iShares MSCI UAE ETF UAE 0.00%↑ which is currently up 16% year-to-date. If you follow me you know that I have been in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for the past few days, for meetings, site visits, Sotheby’s Collectors Week (mainly the automotive and watch auctions) and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix before taking a bit of holiday with my wife. One of the things that has always fascinated me is that ever since I’ve been coming to the UAE beginning almost 15 years ago, places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi continue to grow along with attracting more businesses and people which ultimately cements my confidence in the future of the country. I’m going to explain a few of my observations, companies to pay attention to and why I believe the UAE will continue on a path of growth. As a quick note, and to put this to bed early, unlike influencers such as the Gstaad Guy being paid by Qataris / the Saudis or the European Kid being paid to do whatever this is in Dubai, I do not receive any payments from Middle Eastern (or any) tourism boards, governments, entities, etc. In fact, I would assume that many of the sovereign wealth funds (which are run by the governments and own shares in many of the companies I mention) are annoyed that I’ve been critical of them not doing proper due diligence or having proper downside risk protection in place since they’ve basically said “Pierre, go kick rocks and stick to your unpaid internship” each time I’ve brought it up to them directly. With all of that being said, let’s dive in!