I doubt Dubai can and will repay any debts.
Untitled Document
All over the UAE people are owed money by companies, developers and quasi government entities. Nothing can be done to claim the money. It is part of the business ethic to not pay until forced to. But who here can force a local to pay?
I have watched individuals and companies go under as they are not paid or given whatever they purchased. In many cases they had loans to buy materials or properties. As they buckle under the weight of those loans they default and are sent to jail. A great way to deal with people you owe something to!
It is sad as they hang on in hope not understanding or believing that this could happen. It is unheard of where they come from so they rely on the hope that they will wake up from their nightmare and reality as they know it, will return.
They cannot turn to the courts. The legal system is set up to protect the rich. If a company does something illegal to its customers, creditors etc. they each have to fight their own case. No-one says to the company "You broke the law before, and told to make good, so why are you back in court with the same complaint against you?". For this reason class action is prohibited. A company can rob 1000 people in exactly the same way and if 100 go to court and win their money back the thieves still get away with robbing 900. Good returns, good business and who cares what happens to the UAE reputation. Sadly the UAE leaders do not stop this as they use the same vehicles themselves. Businessmen first, Leaders second.
The press says very little. Local press are gagged from reporting the injustices that are all around. BBC, Sky, CNN are all after lucrative contracts in Abu Dhabi so say very little about the real rot.
Dubai is just the beginning. Abu Dhabi will go the same way too. Many have come to even more grief there. It has nothing to do with the money they have (or more correctly the world hopes they have!)
This is about the very same same systems of class, exploitation, lack of law, and general lack of development that caused wars and reform in Europe centuries ago.
Massive reform is needed for the UAE to survive. They must show the world they have changed and all are equal in the eyes of the law. They must show they have law to protect against systematic robbery or exploitation of the citizens and visitors alike.
The UAE is a 15th century trading post for the worlds nomads, most undesireable. It is awash with con-artists, fakes, the outlawed, the unqualified. They are here because the UAE is ideal for humanity's most unpleasant.
Operate at your peril. Do the deal and get out. Its going to be a while before this place resembles a 21st century country.
You may make money but after a stint here, you get out broke or rich. But the rich mostly leave without their soul.