Video: Top Dubai financier on why he is bullish about the economy

The UAE and Dubai’s economy is set to recover going ahead, a senior Dubai-based financier and entrepreneur has said.

Shailesh Dash, founder of investment firm Al Masah Capital, said he is optimistic about growth due to improving fundamentals in the market.

“We have seen real estate sales, oil and gas, construction – all of these segments performing better,” he said.

“And the government is also changing policies to attract more foreign direct investment. So I’m confident about better growth rates in the years to come”, he said.

Dubai’s economy is expected to grow by 2.1 per cent in 2019, 3.8 per cent in 2020 and 2.8 per cent in 2021, according to the forecast issued by the Department of Economic Development (DED) this week.

The emirate’s growth rate slowed to 1.94 per cent in 2018 – the slowest since the financial crisis in 2009.

Recently announced stimulus policies and investments, better growth prospects in trading partners, and projects related to the hosting of the World Expo trade fair in 2020 will be major contributors to growth over the next three years, the DED said.

“There are many positive developments that have been done by the [UAE] government, but the rest of the world is also changing, and we all are competing for the same amount of capital,” said Dash.

“Capital will move wherever it sees the best opportunity… and the whole world is trying to attract that capital. So we have to keep ourselves changing and offer the best. We need to change ourselves to the current requirements of these wealthy investors and see as to how we can attract that money into the UAE as well.”

He also offered his tips to investors in the current market scenario to ensure that they receive the best returns.

Pick up the April issue of Gulf Business magazine to read the full interview with Shailesh Dash.