You may have noticed a lack of fresh articles and features on Hilaliya.

Guilty as charged. I am on my way back from a business trip to Dubai.

Last time I was in Dubai was in 1992; of course it’s a complete different beast now. Quite simply, it is an amazing desert metropolis built on magnificent infrastructure and thriving due to its embrace of economic liberalization, strong laws, tourism. They are constantly raising the benchmark here: hotels, resorts, malls, entertainment facilities, and so forth, topped off with the quality control, sound planning and excellent customer service.

I love the fact that – unlike Kuwait where people are fixated on politics and officials – people here focus on the economy, making money, building something, while attempting to offer the best products and services to the public that money can buy.

Following the bureaucracy, narrow-mindedness and corruption prevalent in most facets of Kuwaiti society, it is so refreshing to visit an Arab country where the roots of bigotry, extremism and fatalism are ripped from the ground before being allowed to taint society.

‘Business Bay’ Project

The last week has been very hectic, an assortment of meetings and work-related activities. Stay tuned though, much more stuff coming your way including a controversial, hard-hitting article I penned for the Arab Times concerning Iran’s uranium enrichment program and the environmental danger it poses to Kuwait.