DenizD, u nailed it.
I lived in the UAE for about 10 years and let me share my experience, alll locals are balling out of control. They dont have to pay for water/electricty/ etc. they have exclusive rights over every other nationality, they get "Local Allowance" at whatver job they have. I even heard they have special cards which allowas them to buy stuff (ie groceries) for cheaper than the rest of society.... You cant open a business there unless its under a local persons name, if u do open something under a local, theyll most probably ask anything from 1% to 10% of profits, etc etc etc There are many many more privledges they have , too long to list...
My local friend signed up with a govt. education program, b/c his high school avg was higher than a B (ie >=70%), the UAE govt sent him to the states to study finance for 4 years, gave him $12,000 moving allowance and $4,000 a month for the 4 years he's there (this excludes the education/accomodation costs) and upon arrival, as an award, he is promised a $100,000 payment. And the condition for all this is that he has to work in a government dept. for 2 years for , as he put it himself,
minimum wage of 80,000dhs a month!!! Thats over $20,000 a month
Its a tough life
