Sheikh Rashid Al-Maktoum: Architect of dazzling Dubai

When I first visited Dubai in 1968, it had just become a member state of the newly established United Arab Emirates, with seven states, or “sheikhdoms,” protected by the British government.
The latter had hitherto done very little to develop the region since it had imposed it’s will on it. Only Dubai had any semblance of a town thanks to the willpower and imagination of its then ruler, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al-Maktoum.
Although himself a tribal sheikh belonging to the Bani Yas tribe, which emigrated from Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Rashid was a genius since he had the foresight to think ahead of others and the resolve to make Dubai a modern state or metropolis with no resources.
The only advantage at his disposal was perhaps Dubai’s proximity to Saudi Arabia and Iran and flourishing trade in pearls thanks to demand from India. In due course, he also developed Dubai’s gold imports, which he re-exported to India in quantities so large that their value was hard to estimate. Nevertheless, it was a major part of Dubai’s hugely emerging business opportunities.
Today, with a GDP exceeding $80 billion and rising, Dubai is rightly called the Gulf’s “Gold Center.”
A visit to Deira city, for instance, will show the extent of gold wealth enjoyed by Dubai, presently the world’s greatest importer and seller of 22-carat gold.
I met Sheikh Rashid in his office overlooking the port, which later became port Rashid, and found him to be a man of knowledge, humility and a true open-door policy.
His knowledge of regional affairs and his ambitions for Dubai were astonishing. At the time, port Rashid was still being built and due to become one of the largest in the region.
Go to Jebel Ali, a few kilometers from the center of town and you will see what I mean.
The next time I met Sheikh Rashid was somewhere between Dubai and Abu Dhabi while meeting with friends in the desert sitting on the sand. I stopped my car and went straight to greet him with no introductions or protocol. I sat alongside him, telling him the latest BBC news bulletin long before Dubai became a great media hub with its own media city a few kilometers from the town center.
During our long meeting in his office overlooking the creek, I realized that Sheikh Rashid had great ambitions for the small emirate that at the time had limited means. The small port, which had already begun being built, was beginning to attract attention and foreign settlers. It was a small piece of land, hardly 400 sqm in size but ready to take off if there was enough money to finance it.
At the time, the British were still in charge but were on their way out. Nevertheless, Sheikh Rashid had the foresight and wisdom to keep some of them in charge for the benefit of continuity and because he knew what the Emirate was in need of.
It was then that the seven little emirates, formerly referred to as “Trucial States,” combined and formed the United Arab Emirates, with Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the lead. Both Sheikh Rashid and the president of the new state, Sheikh Zayed, hit it off, with Dubai benefiting greatly from Abu Dhabi’s vast wealth, which Sheikh Zayed was willing to share with Dubai and the other smaller states like Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Ras Al-Khaimah.
The population of Dubai had exploded beyond the two million mark by 1970. Yet it took quite a few years before the state became the main tourist attraction of the UAE and later, the whole Arabian Peninsula.
Tourism has grown beyond the expectations of the country’s rulers, with five-star hotels now numbering in the scores and entertainment facilities vying with those of Europe and Hong Kong. If the rulers were aiming at replicating the Singapore experience, they have certainly got it right, although it is still nowhere near it in industry and banking.
In 2010, Dubai was the seventh most visited country in the world, with visitors now expected to exceed 15 million annually, resulting in hotels of all calibers being booked all year round. Its malls are said to be some of the best and largest in the world.
According to Internet sources, the earliest recorded mention of Dubai was in 1095 in a geographical book. The Venetian pearl merchant, Gaspero Balbi, visited the area in 1580 and also made mention of it for its pearling industry. Until a few years ago, pearls were being exported to India where rulers and princes were fond of wearing pearls on their nude chests.
The development of artificial and semi-artificial pearls has put an end to the once flourishing trade and diving occupation since then.

n Farouk Luqman is an eminent journalist based in Jeddah.