By Simon Clark
April 1 (Bloomberg) -- From his air-conditioned office on the seventh floor of one of Dubai's twin Emirates Towers, Pakistani tycoon Arif Naqvi surveys the metropolis that made him rich.
To Naqvi's left, about 50 skyscrapers rise above the desert city, where thousands of cranes work on $200 billion of real estate projects, according to HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's largest bank. Sprawling to his right are the palace, gardens and stables of the emirate's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al- Maktoum, his wives and children.
``I couldn't have done a 10th of what I've done if it hadn't been for Dubai,'' says Naqvi, 47, who moved to Dubai in 1994 with $50,000 of savings and now runs buyout firm Abraaj Capital Ltd. His $5 billion of assets include stakes in Turkish hospitals, Saudi Arabian pharmacies and a Jordanian aircraft repair company. Successful investments include Dubai's Arabtec Holdings PJSC, which is building the world's tallest skyscraper, Burj Dubai, on a $20 billion construction site not far from Naqvi's office.
In a ditch near the Giorgio Armani-designed hotel on the tower's lower floors, construction worker Omkar Singh leans on a shovel and wipes sweat from his brow. Singh, 24, went into debt to pay 60,000 rupees ($1,500) -- more than six months of earnings, including overtime -- to an agent to get to Dubai from India. The agent promised eight-hour workdays. Singh says he works at least 10-hour shifts, six days a week. ``I was taken for a ride,'' he says.
`Come to Make Money'
Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed, who turns 59 this year, has imported freewheeling capitalists and low-wage laborers to transform his sandy realm into the financial, tourism and transport hub of the Middle East. In a region better known in the West for exporting oil and terrorism, Dubai's attractions include an income tax rate of zero and free-trade zones where foreigners can own companies outright, without local partners. The immigration frenzy has raised fears of a real estate bubble and drawn accusations of human-rights abuses.
Foreigners are welcome in Dubai -- as long as they share the sheikh's capitalist vision. ``People come here to make money
To contact the reporter on this story: Simon Clark in London at sclark4@bloomberg.net
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