The announcement that Halliburton, the Houston, Tex.-based oil services company, was moving its headquarters to Dubai may have surprised many Americans. But for people in Dubai, it simply ratified decades of hard work.
With scant oil reserves, Dubai's ruling family, the Maktoums, long ago realized that their state's future lay in serving as the commercial hub of the Arab Middle East, not pulling petroleum from the desert sands. "They have had to live on their wits," says Bulent Gultekin, a Wharton finance professor. "So they've tried to build Dubai into the business platform for the region."
To that end, the Maktoums, led by the billionaire known today as "Dubai's CEO," Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, have invested heavily in the infrastructure of a modern economy. They have built a first-class port, airport and airline; created lightly regulated enterprise zones to foster the development of new industries and attract foreign firms; and spent lavishly on amenities ranging from the white, sail-shaped Burj al Arab, the world's tallest hotel, to an indoor ski slope chilled to about 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
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