So it’s that time of year again. As the weather heats up and the garish yellow effigies of Modesh are placed on every street corner here in Dubai lots of people choose to leave the country for the summer. This became particularly apparent this week when I called just about anybody I could think of in Abu Dhabi to get a reaction to the new truck restrictions across the Emirate. At least eight of the dozen or so people were out of the country for all of July, while the rest either hadn’t got an opinion or just didn’t want to speak to me.
Hopefully all those that have taken the month off will return, and normal service will be resumed. Certainly, the uneasiness in the jobs market over the first half of this year seems to have settled for the time being.
However, there has been a problem lately with private sector companies and contractors settling invoices with each other. It has got to the point where the UK minister for trade has stepped in saying that contractors and suppliers in the UAE ‘need to be paid’. This is fair enough, particularly as US $636 million is owed to British consultants and engineers alone.
Even if there is little liquidity in the market, firms holding off paying each other will be a sure-fire recipe for disaster, and will only serve to keep some of the best talents in the industry out of the country for good.
On a different topic, every two weeks, I put this newsletter together and once a month the magazine appears. For a change, though – I want you to write, while I’ll read.
We do get feedback on PMV of course – many of you will tell me what you don’t like. However, I’d like to provide more of what you do like, so if you have any suggestions don’t be shy – just call or email me. So, if for example you would like to see more (or less) equipment reviews, analysis or interviews with plant managers, just let me know. You might have some feature ideas of your own – just give us a call.
The sun’s out… Lets hope the cheque clears
Don't let the best talents leave the country for good
So it’s that time of year again. As the weather heats up and the garish yellow effigies of Modesh are placed on every street corner here in Dubai lots of people choose to leave the country for the summer. This became particularly apparent this week when I called just about anybody I could think of in Abu Dhabi to get a reaction to the new truck restrictions across the Emirate. At least eight of the dozen or so people were out of the country for all of July, while the rest either hadn’t got an opinion or just didn’t want to speak to me.
Hopefully all those that have taken the month off will return, and normal service will be resumed. Certainly, the uneasiness in the jobs market over the first half of this year seems to have settled for the time being.
However, there has been a problem lately with private sector companies and contractors settling invoices with each other. It has got to the point where the UK minister for trade has stepped in saying that contractors and suppliers in the UAE ‘need to be paid’. This is fair enough, particularly as US $636 million is owed to British consultants and engineers alone.
Even if there is little liquidity in the market, firms holding off paying each other will be a sure-fire recipe for disaster, and will only serve to keep some of the best talents in the industry out of the country for good.
On a different topic, every two weeks, I put this newsletter together and once a month the magazine appears. For a change, though – I want you to write, while I’ll read.
We do get feedback on PMV of course – many of you will tell me what you don’t like. However, I’d like to provide more of what you do like, so if you have any suggestions don’t be shy – just call or email me. So, if for example you would like to see more (or less) equipment reviews, analysis or interviews with plant managers, just let me know. You might have some feature ideas of your own – just give us a call.
Greg Whitaker is editor of PMV Middle East.