Damac eyes US property deals on favorable Trump tax regime

US President Donald Trump alights from Air Force One at Zurich International Airport for the Davos World Economic Forum. Many global business leaders attending the event are quietly happy with the impact of more favorable corporate taxation on their businesses. (AP)

DAVOS: Dubai developer Damac is looking at property development in the US, helped by a more favorable tax regime, Reuters reported.
Hussain Sajwani, chairman and founder of UAE property firm Damac, is a friend of Trump and his main business partner in the Gulf region. He is looking more favorably at the US after Congress passed Trump’s corporate and personal tax cuts.
“We were looking at property development in the States and the previous tax brackets were not very attractive and now they’re more attractive,” said Sajwani, who owns Damac Hills, a major development that includes the Trump International Golf Club in Dubai.
With the US stock market soaring, Trump’s corporate tax cuts padding companies’ pockets and US consumers spending again, companies here are quietly applauding the US president even as many Davos delegates see him as an unwelcome outsider.
“On the values front, it’s hard to see the international elite here in Davos applauding Trump, but on the wallet side of things, it may be different. That is the fundamental tension,” said Helene Rey, economics professor at London Business School.
Some government leaders, economists and bankers are warning against an overheating of the US economy, an increase to the $20 trillion national debt and a “race to the bottom” on tax cuts. All the same, firms have high hopes for the US market.