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‘Singapore on steroids’: Dubai deserves more attention
Open to the world, the most populous of the seven emirates that make up the UAE is a trendsetter in AI, fintech and digitalisation.
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Tourism is booming in Dubai. In 2023, its international visitor arrivals topped 17 million, compared to Singapore’s 13.6 million.
PHOTO: AFP
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Looking down as the Emirates airline’s Boeing 777 approaches Dubai’s international airport, you can see you’re in a desert. The view is all brown sand, with a few shrubs and the occasional low-rise settlement. But as you get lower and closer to the city, you see neat rectangles and circles of green – obviously all man-made, dotted with date palms, and then, towering skyscrapers in the distance. The desert has disappeared.
You clear immigration and customs quickly – the airport is efficient – and drive through broad highways into the city, past chic modern buildings, stores and malls.
