Day 7 - Dubai Chamber of Commerce, and the Burj Khalifa, Tuesday January 4

All of us MBA's-to-be were looking forward to some getting some exposure to learning Dubai's way of conducting business. So today we were scheduled to visit the Chamber of Commerce in the morning, where we were given access to a boardroom, and each of us seated with our own desk microphone. I could only imagine what types of decisions were made in this room and shortly after taking our seats, Professor Chaudhry introduced Omar Khan, a Director at the Chamber. Mr. Khan gave us some economic highlights of Dubai and the intentions that the Emirate has for the future. With less than 5% of its GDP coming from Oil, it was shown to us that Dubai's core competencies are: Trade, logistics, finance, and tourism. Even the Dubai Airport has positioned itself to be one of the top 5 hubs in the world for international cargo. The objectives the Chamber of Commerce have for Dubai are: 1)Favorable business environment (through Free Zones), 2) Development of businesses, 3) Promote Dubai as an international business hub. Some areas that need attention, Khan noted, are education and healthcare. After the presentation, Khan spent time answering our questions, and then gave each of us a parting gift. I even found out from one of my classmates that Mr. Khan actually went to undergraduate university in the US, in Florida. Once the session was over, many of us started to feel like we were understanding business in this Gulf State much better. A highly recommended website (by Khan) to keep up with this information was www.gulfnews.com.

After our ride back to IMT and our afternoon session on Business Negotiation in the Gulf with Dr. Saqib Qureshi, it was time for each of us to make a personal record and visit the world's tallest building - the Burj Khalifa. While we waited for our turn to take the elevators up, we saw some statistics that make this building a modern marvel. The one that stood out to me the most was "Each year, by channeling the condensation off of the windows of the Burj Khalifa, 15 million gallons of water are collected for use." In a desert, something that can do this is a big asset to the livelihood of its inhabitants. In terms of how high this structure is- according to The New Yorker, "Even if you put the Chrysler Building on top of the Empire State Building, that still wouldn’t equal its height." The official height is 160 floors, but 124 is the highest we are allowed to go. Finally we all piled into several elevators, with the interior of each elevator, nightclub-inspired with the flashing lights set across intentional darkness. In less than a minute we shot up 124 floors! Yes my ears popped and I remember wishing that the elevator at my work was this fast when it was going up just a few floors. The elevator doors opened and the air immediately felt colder and slightly thinner. Walking up to the glass windows, I could see just how high up we were. It felt like I was in an airplane, and could see all of Dubai in every direction. There was even a small open window for people to stick their arm or head out and look down at the Dubai skyline. When it was time to come down from the clouds, the elevators brought us down as quick as going up, and it was time to enjoy some free time. With plenty of places to eat, we all had our choices. My pick was a Lebanese restaurant out on the water with the view of the Burj Khalifa and the fountain show. This show is similar to the one in front of the Bellagio at Las Vegas, but bigger. At one point, the worlds largest fountain show choreographed the water fountains to the song "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. It actually was done well, and every 30 minutes or so a different song would come on and a fountain show would ensue. When dinner was over, everybody headed out for a night on the town. The destination spots varied among different crowds but there was a celebrity sighting at a hotel club: Hugh Grant. The night seems to have so much opportunity in Dubai, partly because of the variety of amazing nightclubs and partly because everything is so accessible by taxi. It doesn't matter that you may have to wake up early the next morning for class, because you are still excited about the day before, and looking forward to the day yet to come.