A taste of the (very) high life in Dubai

MIDDLE EAST REAL ESTATE FORUM Ten UK delegates, two events, 20 speakers, two site tours, 200 attendees, and all some 5,500km away in the United Arab Emirates. At one point, the merry band of investors, developers, government representatives and regional ambassadors that travelled to Dubai and Abu Dhabi under the banner of EG’s Middle East Real Estate Forum on 25-6 April, stood in a bar 1km up in the air, at the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. The vertiginous – namely Jackie Sadek, chair of the Constellation, were exposed. Earlier in the day, EG hosted an event that put the global ambitions of Dubai and the UK under the spotlight. All signs in Dubai currently point to Expo 2020, the six-month world fair that will take shape on a 430ha site in the south of the emirate. Delegates heard all about it from the event’s chief operating officer Simon Clegg – a familiar name to those close to the Olympics and Ipswich Football Club. Tech, affordable housing, and the concept of the aerotropolis: the event uncovered striking parallels between the UK and Dubai, while offering something for both places to take away – the UK market’s transparency and the sheer speed at which Dubai makes things happen. All the while, the event in Dubai, and also in Abu Dhabi the previous day, gave the UK delegates, including Sir Edward Lister, adviser to the  Department for International Trade, a valuable platform to sell opportunities in the UK to investors who have a healthy appetite to put their money here, as our interviews with many of them confirmed. [gallery type="slideshow" size="full" ids="880351,880352,880353,880354,880355,880356,880357,880358,880359,880360"] Watch the debates and read more coverage from the Middle East >>   To send feedback, e-mail Rebecca.Kent@egi.co.uk or tweet @Writer_RKent or @estatesgazette