The Dubai Strategic Plan (DSP) 2015, announced in February, will help the Dubai government steer the emirate into the next level of growth, development and excellence.

Vision 2015, announced by His HighnessShaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is expected to engineer an 11 per cent annual growth in GDP to Dh396.36 billion ($108 billion) by 2015 from the current Dh137.25 billion ($37.4 billion).

This would translate a 41 per cent growth in per capita GDP to $44,000 by 2015 from $31,140 now by creating 882,000 new jobs and bringing total employment to 1.73 million by 2015.

A balanced diet

However, for a fast-growing economy like Dubai, achieving growth is not an issue as growth has been coming due to an effective vision embedded within the emirate's economic plans.

The emirate's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 16 per cent in 2006 over 2005 GDP, according to the Department of Economic Development (DED), which regulates its private sector.

Soaring house rents, high inflation and massive traffic jams on Dubai's roads are testimony to the impact of the fast growth.

The challenge is to structure the growth in a manageable and responsible manner that helps its population and has limited impact on the environment.

Dubai is a victim of its own success. Some say it's difficult to manage an economy with such a high rate of growth, especially while trying to ensure healthy and balanced growth.

The question of whether the government will be able to achieve this growth rate is not important at this juncture.

What is important for an economy like Dubai is to ensure balanced growth. This is where the DSP 2015 will play a great role — in reshaping its future course by ensuring a balanced diet for its economy and society.

"Dubai Strategic Plan will open a new page in our history after a successful execution of the first one," Shaikh Mohammad said when making the announcement.

For Dubai, the DSP 2015 is a balanced diet.



A historic perspective

A peek into Dubai's past will show that during the first oil boom in the 1970s, Dubai had built its basic infrastructure including roads, highways, telecommunications, ports and other associated development, even before the development of social institutions.

Till then, Dubai remained an outpost for traders and had yet to become a regional hub.

The first oil boom

The government had pumped money into low-cost housing for UAE nationals and expatriates.

In the 1980s, the government had to just maintain and expand its infrastructure and add new processes.

For example, Dubai International Airport added the duty-free shop, Jebel Ali Port saw the development of a free zone to complement the shipping and logistics industry as a natural progression. Things were pretty much under control and growth was slow but smooth.

However, in the 1990s, when the sudden influx of traders from the former Soviet states began to swamp Dubai's wholesale markets, the trading and tourism sectors witnessed a major surge in business.

Hundreds of cargo and tourism companies began to profit by serving them. Suddenly, infrastructure looked very inadequate, prompting the government to re-think strategy.