H e starts working out at the crack of dawn. He took up golf only five years ago and claims that it is not true about golf being an old man's sport. All of 36 years, Salem bin Dasmal, the chief executive officer of Dubailand, is always trying to keep fit and conserve all his energy to create the ultimate family destination for the entire region and "possibly the world".
A typical day for Dasmal constitutes running from one authority to another in an effort to obtain various licences for his project. "My face is very familiar to all the authorities. I think they are sick and tired of me. They probably hide now when they learn I am coming," says the go-getter.
He was appointed as the CEO of Dubailand in February 2004, prior to which he served as the deputy director general of the Dubai Development and Investment Authority (DDIA ), where his responsibilities included overseeing all investment activities for the authority, research, development and strategic planning activities related to project development and capitalisation.
He was also responsible for recommending policy and strategy in the realm of the overall economic development of Dubai. He began his career at Emirates Bank International where he worked for two years.
Following that and prior to joining the DDIA, Dasmal assumed responsibilities as a manager at Ernst and Young for four years.
Manning 26 mega projects in an overall area of three billion square feet, with each project estimated at at least Dh1 billion in investment value, Dasmal says that Dubailand currently has more than Dh35 billion worth of investments in all of the projects. SMALL PICTURE At present, however, Dasmal is more interested in looking at the smaller picture.
Within these 26 projects, there are 50 individual attractions.
"The development is for mixed-use at the end of the day but the key driver are these individual attractions.That is why we are currently focusing on them right now," says Dasmal.
While a few of these - about 10 to 12 attractions - would come on line by 2009, the remainder will be developed over the following three years, up to 2012.
These include the SnowDome, a permanent Global Village, a dinosaur theme park named Restless Planet, Emirates Planetarium and the biggest wheel in the world called Great Dubai Wheel, which - Dasmal says - will be significantly larger than the London Eye.
Dubailand will open three of the 50 major projects by the end of this year. These include the Polo and Equestrian, Dubai Outlet Mall and Dubai Heritage Vision. While Polo and Equestrian will comprise four polo fields and deluxe stabling provisions for 800 horses, the Dubai Heritage Vision is a 1,500-seater amphitheatre with light and sound show.
Expandable to 5,000 seats, it will reflect the history of the region and the UAE.
Dubai Outlet City, on the other hand, as Dasmal puts it, is going to be a great addition to the already existing retail and shopping environment.
"This is about branded garments and other items discounted. For instance, you would find garments, which are a season or two old, at a discount," he said.
Biggest of the 26 projects, according to Dasmal, will be the City of Arabia [featuring Mall ofArabia - one of the world's largest malls and Restless Planet], followed by the Falcon City comprising life-size replicas of the Wonders of the World and after that there will be the Dubai Sports City.Two stadiums at the city - a purpose-built cricket stadium and a 60,000-seater stadium - will open by 2009, according to Dasmal.
But is there a fear of being beaten down by over-ambition? "We don't think our estimates are too ambitious.What we are creating here is an integrated entertainment and leisure cluster. There is nothing like this that exists. It is the world's first," says a confident Dasmal. CONCERN FOR INVESTORS The sheer magnitude of the project would normally not allow any room for change in the original plan. But Dasmal is concerned about his investors.
"Each development in Dubailand, on an average, will cost the investor Dh1bn. That is a huge amount of money and we want to see him make a return. So if that means that he needs to make some slight changes or modifications, we will be flexible, as long as he remains true to the vision of his project as well as that of Dubailand's," says Dasmal.
However, Dasmal is anxious about funding requirements in the future. "Investors may have the challenge in the future in terms of raising funds for the Dh35bn development. But if their businesses do extremely well, they may not have that challenge at all." Dubailand has estimated it would be investing about Dh3bn in the infrastructure alone in the next six years. And that is something we have to be looking to fund," says Dasmal. RESIDENTIAL COMPONENT Among some of these developments in Dubailand, there are some residential components as well as the commercial ones. According to Dasmal, the business model is more entertainment-led than residential.
"We would like to see a ratio of more than 70 per cent dedicated to leisure, tourism and entertainment," he says.
However, it is not all-freehold ownership yet declared for the Dubailand. "The law has come out and we are awaiting an order to be issued now which would specify which areas are specifically up for freehold.
"We have thus continued to develop in accordance to our understanding of the law, which is freehold to the UAE and the GCC nationals and leasehold to foreigners," explained Dasmal.
"Of course, more people in the market are looking at the freehold. We await the order. If the government thinks our area can have freehold, then we will do that. Honestly, I have not seen any signs of that as yet," he added.
All the renowned international theme park brands seem attractive to Dasmal, from the world's "top 10" list.
These include Disney, Universal, Orlando, Paramount, Tussaud's Group and so on. "We would love to bring in one of those brands to capitalise on the theme parks in Dubailand," says Dasmal. Dubailand already has four theme parks planned at present. "And that is why we also have to be careful in terms of how many theme parks we can develop," he added.
According to Dasmal, without the continuing support by Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Municipality and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority none of these big projects would have been possible "We have integrated our plans and the master plan of the entire Dubailand into the systems of all three," he said.
Explaining the connectivity, Dasmal pointed out that there is the Blue Line, which runs from the Emirates Road, and is the first phase of the RTA's project.
That, according to him, will be a great contribution to Dubailand "at a stage of development where it would need something like that".
"We are planning with our investors to see how we can integrate that Blue Line into the individual projects in Dubailand," said Dasmal.
© Emirates Today 2006
