An interesting article passed along by good friend, Dipen Desai, regarding the expansion aspirations of Dubai World. Dubai has developed a very unique business model which has led to substantial growth in the past decade. The country is now investing in and advising other countries hoping to replicate the model:
So while petroleum-rich Persian Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi acquire chunks of companies like Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), Dubai is on an international building spree. And it's not just hotels and tall buildings - the emirate's companies are selling the developing world nothing less than promises of Dubai-style economic success. Its developers are building a $27 billion city in Saudi Arabia, $20 billion worth of luxury projects in Algeria, resorts in Morocco, housing in Vietnam, ports in Indonesia, free-trade zones in Senegal, and game parks in South Africa. "Dubai is seemingly so successful that it has become a brand to these countries," says Christopher Davidson, a professor at Durham University in England who just published his second book on the United Arab Emirates. "Governments want to have a little bit of what Dubai's been able to do at home, and Dubai needs to find places to keep growing."
The question, of course, is whether these countries can replicate the model without Dubai's deep sovereign pockets.