Dubai Offers To Host
UN
Dubai
has offered to host the headquarters of the United Nations
should the global organisation want to leave New York.
A statement on Friday said,’’ The government of Dubai
announces that it is fully prepared to host the U.N.
headquarters on its territory in the event its officials take
the decision to move from New York.’’
Dubai's offer comes days after an article by an academic and a
real estate developer on the website of Forbes magazine called
for the United Nations to relocate to Dubai.
Joel Kotkin, a fellow in urban futures at Chapman University and
Robert J. Cristiano, the California University’s "real estate
professional in residence wrote, ’’Bringing the United
Nations to Dubai makes sense."
’’New York gets rid of one of its worst welfare cheats and Dubai
finds new tenants to fill its vacant towers," they said,
describing the U.N. headquarters as a ‘pain in the butt’ which
’’pays no taxes and annoys hard-working New Yorkers with its
sloth, pretensions and cavalier disregard for traffic laws.’’
Profligate
Dubai, which has gained worldwide attention for its extravagant
real estate projects, left global markets reeling in November
when it said it would request a standstill agreement on billions
of dollars of debt.
The global financial crisis saw many real estate projects
delayed or shelved in the emirate, but construction has barely
stopped and new projects are still coming on line, raising
questions on how the buildings will be filled in the downturn.
Earlier this month, Dubai's ruler inaugurated the tallest
building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, a sign the Gulf
emirate's ambitions remain high despite its debt problems.
REUTERS/Yinka
