UAE: Dubai

The focus of Dubai’s health care sector is set to undergo a major shift, with greater emphasis to be placed on prevention rather than treatment, a policy that aims both to better meet the changing needs of the community and also rein in an expanding health budget.

For Dubai, 2011 was a year of consolidation, with solid growth for many key economic sectors, the debt load of some of the emirate’s leading corporations sharply reduced and confidence growing apace, though concerns linger over how renewed economic slowdown elsewhere will impact the emirate.

A number of leading local firms are vying for lucrative construction contracts in neighbouring Gulf states and beyond, creating new opportunities for the sector.

The banking industry looks set for a period of consolidation and belt tightening, with many of Dubai’s analysts predicting an easing of profits and an increase in non-performing loans (NPLs) for the near term. Though mergers and restructuring by some local lenders is expected to produce a leaner sector, it should also become stronger and thus better able to meet the demands of the rapidly changing financial landscape.

Dubai has cleared the way for private investors to enter the emirate’s public transport sector, having laid the foundations for a partial privatisation of some operations in the state’s growing rail, road and waterborne networks.

Dubai is to change the way it powers itself, having announced a long-term plan to diversify the emirate’s energy sector away from dependence on imported gas and towards a broad-based mix of fuels for its power stations. However, that energy security could come at a cost.