Dubai World to restructure

Article Link to Bloomberg

After watching Farid Mohammed Ahmed, Secretary General of Dubai World fumble through a direct question, the answer finally comes to light.

3 weeks ago during the Duke CCMBA residency, Mr. Ahmed was asked directly "Given the amount of debt Dubai is under, and the role the real estate market and Dubai World has played in that, if you had a crystal ball 10 years ago...or looking back...what would you change over the past 10 years?"

After talking about having a vision as the Dubai crystal ball, Mr. Ahmed's answer was eventually "Nothing". However, Bloomberg announced today that the government-owned Dubai World - a port operations enterprise, and the Dubai emirates crown jewel corporation, as asked for a "standstill" agreement from its creditors as it seeks to restructure its $50+B of remaining debt.

Other major government backed corporations, including the builder of the Burj Dubai, Emaar Properties, were also affected as their credit ratings were slashed:

The state-controlled company will ask creditors for a “standstill” agreement as it negotiates to extend maturities, including $3.52 billion of Islamic bonds due Dec. 14 from its property unit Nakheel PJSC, Dubai’s Department of Finance said in an e-mailed statement. Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s cut the ratings on several state companies, saying they may consider the plan a default...

Emaar Properties PJSC, the U.A.E.’s biggest developer, Jebel Ali Free Zone, an operator of business parks, DIFC Investments and Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group LLC. were all cut to below investment-grade ratings by Moody’s. DP World Ltd., the Middle East’s biggest port operator, and Dubai Electricity & Water Authority were lowered to Baa2, two levels above junk.

Funny enough, when the Duke CCMBA class visited Nakheel properties a few weeks ago, the class was asked to not ask any questions about the current financial situation. We can now see why.

Care to revise your answer, Mr. Ahmed?

a little culture shock...don't swear!

Australian man detained in Dubai for swearing at undercover airport cop

An Australian man has been stuck in Dubai for more than a month after his passport was suspended. His offense? Swearing at an undercover police officer at Dubai International Airport. Sun McKay, a 32-year-old former Australian soldier now working as a private security consultant in Afghanistan, claims he stepped out of a line in the airport's departure lounge to use an ATM. That's when he says the undercover officer forcefully grabbed him by the wrist, The Advertiser newspaper of Australia reports.

The Brisbane Times writes that when KcKay "was manhandled by a stranger (the undercover officer) in the arrivals hall at Dubai International Airport, he did what many young Australians would do. He swore." McKay is quoted by the Times as saying: "This guy in a blue shirt grabbed my wrist quite hard, pulled me towards him and started yelling at me in Arabic, and I just said: 'What the f---?' "

That, as you might expect, is where McKay’s real trouble began. He says he was taken to a room and interrogated for more than three hours. McKay’s father tells Australia's ABC News that although his son has not been arrested, he is running out of money while waiting for his trial date. McKay's lawyer, Mohsen Mohamed Zin El Din, tells the Times that simply getting a court date could take up to three months.

In the meantime, McKay claims that – despite a request for help – he has received little assistance from Australia's consular staff in Dubai. However, ABC News writes Australia's consular staff says McKay first turned down consular help, "but has since requested assistance which will be provided." Adding to the case, the Times says consulate workers claim McKay used "insulting and inappropriate language" toward them as well, which apparently did not help in his initial request for help.

For now, McKay tells the Times: "My lawyer and I will obviously push for a fine, but the penalties here can be straight away deportation or up to three years' imprisonment and then deportation." McKay's lawyer adds to the Times: "Sun agreed that he was guilty. It is not good for him. I told him to deny it."

Link to article

Bill Boulding stars in hilarious commerical

The folks at FuquaVision ("Visoin"?) put out some pretty good stuff. The latest features our own associate dean, Bill Boulding.
I love the cigar bit. Thanks for the tip Farman.

Take a look...

London Culture Dash Video - The River Thames

As promised...here it is...the introduction & world Primiere of our Team Video that we did for the London Culture Dash assignment for Civ. Culture & Languages. We spent the afternoon filming modern behaviors, historical locations, and interviewing knowledgable experts - and fit that into the Cultural Dimension model.

Team one proudly presents the world premiere of The River Thames: A Cultural Journey. This short documentary highlights landmarks and periods of London’s history by tracing the path of the river Thames. The video floats through three distinct eras and events framing London today by capturing the Westminster Abby, The Docklands and the most contemporary location: Olympic Park. In addition to spectacular footage and insightful interviews at each location, the documentary also captures contemporary behaviors, customs and practices that best exemplify how these locations helped to create three London specific cultural dimensions. We hope you enjoy this special screening.

...radio silence... (the story of Finals)

So, for those of you keeping track at home - its been well over 4 weeks since anything has been posted until yesterday. Work has me travelling all over the country, the fam decided to come with me on a trip to SoCal - so we did Disneyland, and Accounting & Managerial Effectiveness have me constant unable to relax without feeling guilty. :P

Finals exams were just last weekend--

I started the Accounting Final at 7:00am on Saturday. My wife was good enough to get the kids out of the house for a few hours, and I'm lucky enough to have a whole room to myself so I can close the door. After about 12 hours of second-guessing myself and shuffling through case studies, textbooks, notes, and Wikipedia I finally churned out a final I could be...uh...satisfied with. Actually, I'll be happy if I get above a 0...and I'm a little worried that the curve won't be steep enough...we'll see.

Managerial Effectiveness was a more manageable test at 90 minutes. I felt ok about it. We were able to use notes, but there really wasn't a whole lot of time to look anything up. So if you didn't read, you really had to just guess.

And now....its done! Except now its Week 7 -- time to finish up our spinal classes (Civilizations, Culture & Languages AND Global Markets & Institutions). For CCL we are finishing up editing of our 5 minute video (coming soon!).

There's the story! Dubai sure sounds nice right about now.

Dubai Schedule Announced...

The Dubai Residency (Term 2) calendar has just been released. It looks like there will be a lot of good field trips, activities, and corporate visits. It also looks like we'll have a few more visitors than we did in London during our short little 9-day stay...plan on wearing suits most days boys!

10/31 - Jumierah Mosque Visit

11/1 - Soha Ragab - CFA (Guest Speaker)

11/2 - Mohammed Nasser Khammas - CEO, Al Ahli

11/2 - Farib Mohammed Ahmed - Dubai World

11/3 - Mazen A Skaf - Strategic Decisions Group

11/4 - Corporate Visits - Nakheel OR DP World OR Dubai Healthcare City

11/5 - Visit 'old town spice market' and modern 'Dubai Mall'

11/5 - Sheikh Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi

11/6 - Desert BBQ, Camel Rides

11/6 - Thomas Bradtke - BCG

Should be a killer time!

Class of 2010 Delhi Video

I just found this video/slideshow of pictures from the Duke CCMBA 2010 Class.

We still have to make it through Dubai -- but Delhi looks like it will be amazing!