What's more interesting? The EV/EBITDA of some company you have never heard of or the going rate for a chicken shawarma? Whilst the enterprise multiple may give you somewhat of an outlook into the inherent value of companies out here, I really can't be bothered to number crunch. So, much to the dismay of my Accounting lecturer, I'm sorry to say that I must move forward with more interesting things. This month, we give you the facts, the figures and the UAE Random Numbers, the numbers that you'll really find interesting - the UAE Random Numbers. Forget the real financials and ratios, some of these you'll find amusing, some a little tedious and some simply shocking.
In no order of amusement, tediousness or shock:
450 - the number of accidents on Dubai roads every day
15 - the average number of working hours that UAE taxi drivers drive per day (get your seat belts on)
4.6 - the average number of children per UAE National Female (married and within wedlock!)
7.2 - the same, but in 1985
3.6725 - the pegged exchange rate of Dirhams to the dollar
1 hour - the amount of time it takes to smoke a shisha (grape is a good flavour apparently)
3 billion dollars - the rumoured cost to make the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, the most expensive in the world http://www.emiratespalace.com
321 metres - the height of current centerpiece of Dubai, the Burj Al Arab, the tallest hotel in the world - http://www.burj-al-arab.com/
2000 - the number of subscribers to the http://www.grapeshisha.com newsletter
19,795 dollars - the UAE GDP per capita, second only to Qatar in the Middle East
906,000 - the estimated population of UAE Nationals
3,414,000 - the estimated total population of expats in the UAE
1,000,000 - the number of Indians expats in the UAE (Other estimated figures include 700,000 Pakistanis, 100,000 Iranians, 80,000+ Brits, 30,000 South Africans, 20,000 Russians, 8,000-12,000 Chechens - that's diversity for you!)
400,000- the number of illegal residents in the UAE
52,800 - the number of dollar millionaires in the UAE.
251 - the number of islands in ‘The World, Dubai’ http://www.theworld.ae/
23 - the actual number of islands that have been sold on The World, Dubai - as reported by ITP Construction, last month
http://www.itp.net/business/news/details.php?category=construction&id=16338
950 - the number of metres being bandied around as the height of the Burj, Dubai, to be the tallest man-made structure in the world. http://www.burjdubai.com
11,500 - the price in dollars of a one-night stay in a 3-bedroom suite at the Emirates Palace
100 - the new speed limit, in miles per hour on the motorways between Abu Dhabi and Dubai and between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain
1 dollar - the price of a shawarma from my local shawarma shop (yum!)
27.6 - the estimated percentage of UAE residents with obesity (better stay off those shawarmas then!)
1 - first place awarded by Conde Nast Traveller to Dubai as the safest destination in the world
5 - the cost in Dirhams to travel by taxi across Abu Dhabi city
40 - the average cost in Dirhams to travel by taxi across Dubai
3 - the number of palm islands that they are building http://www.thepalm.ae/
20 billion - in dollars, value of the real estate that Nakheel is developing. http://www.nakheel.com
50 degrees - how hot the midday sun can be during July and August (it hurts)
100% - the peak relative humidity rate in the summer months (and some people don’t use deodorant!)
5 million - number of tourists that currently visit Dubai, annually.
12 million - the number of tourists that Dubai expects by 2014
21 - the number of local and foreign banks operating in the UAE (and they’ve all got similar names)
105 - the number of airlines that fly through Dubai International Airport
16th - busiest airport in the world is in Dubai
2016 - the date penned by Dubai to try and obtain the Olympics
1 - Emirates Airline is the fastest growing Airline in the world at an annual rate of 20%
1- Etihad Airways received the World Travel Award for being the World’s Leading New Airline
99 years - rumoured to be the definition of freehold for private companies in the new impending property law. Strict freehold is likely to exist for Nakheel, Emaar and Dubai Holding
55 months - the time it will take to fully develop Dubai Metro
29 - the number of telephones in the Royal Suites at the Burj Al Arab
2000 - the number of Mohammeds that gained the world record for the same name gathering in Dubai
170 - the number of kilometers between Abu Dhabi and Dubai
80 - the percentage of the UAE land that is desert
200 - the size in metres that some of the sand dunes rise to deep in the desert
34 - the age in years of the UAE
86 - the rumoured age of His Highness Sheikh Zayed, on his passing last year
9.1 - the percentage of world oil reserves that are located in the UAE
94.3 - the percentage of UAE's oil reserves that are held in Abu Dhabi.
47,000 - the number of tickets issued last year for not wearing a seatbelt
94 - the annual occupancy rate at the Burj al Arab hotel
6040 - the number of square metres of gold on the walls at the Emirates Palace
6 million - the prize money in dollars of the Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest horse race (no gambling allowed, though)
7 - Dubailand will be 7 times larger than Disneyland Paris http://www.dubailand.ae/
10 million - the size in square feet of the Mall of Arabia, which when completed will make it the largest mall in the world
0 - the percentage of tax that is levied here (will it stay like this forever?)
If you have any other numbers that you would like to submit for a future edition, please feel free to send them in. Apart from that, if anyone asks, remember you heard it on the Grapeshisha. Smoke you later!
GRAPESHISHA NEWS SNIPPETS
1. The UAE stands firm with the UK in condemning the London bombings on 7/7
2. Dubai Summer Surprises, the shopping spree of the summer has started again for the hot months in a bid to maintain Dubai as a destination of choice during the sweaty season http://www.mydsf.com/dss/eng/index.asp
3. Rumours are rife that the new property law will be out any day now. But people have been saying that for many, many months.
4. The editors of Arabian Business, Gulf News and OK Magazine have all left their jobs, willingly or unwillingly. Also, the all time UAE fave blog, SecretDubai ( http://secretdubai.blogspot.com/ ) was banned by Etisalat, methinks for a misinterpretation of sarcasm. Freedom of the Press?
5. The first international camel auction is to be held in Abu Dhabi in September. We'll take one for a fiver.
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