Need to look deeper into UAE’s global rankings

Decline in some key indexes fails to account for marked progress made elsewhere By Dr. Sami Mahroum and Dr. Kai L. Chan, Special to Gulf News [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="460"] Image Credit: Jose L. Barros/©Gulf News[/caption] Published: 07:24 March 23, 2016 With 2015 left behind and the new year ahead, it is a good time to pause and take stock of the UAE’s competitiveness as the country edges closer to 2021, and as the KPIs (key performance indicators) of the National Agenda loom closer. The UAE has set many of its development goals based on measures of competitiveness, as reported by third-party international organisations. These include the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR), Global Innovation Index (GII), Human Development Report (HDR), and the World Happiness Report (WHR). The big headline in 2015 was the oil shock: Crude price fell by half. Although the UAE economy is well diversified (oil counts for less than a third of gross domestic product, or GDP), a steep drop in the price of the country’s primary export has not gone unnoticed. Government coffers continue to rely heavily on oil revenues and, subsequently, public investments in large infrastructure projects slow down. The UAE is also impacted by low…

IMT (Dubai): Current state of the economy

A presentation shared with the students of the Institute of Management Technology (IMT) on Dubai. The topic was the "Current state of the economy: ready for liftoff". The slides can be found here.

Emirates Business interview/profile

Web link: http://gulftimes.ae/success-lies-in-smart-strategies/ (Success lies in smart strategies (4 Feb 2016))

NP: Germans are too ‘timid’ to state the obvious

Re: This Is Rape Culture, Robyn Urback, Jan. 8. A popular expression defines insanity as “doing something over and over again and expecting different results.” So it has been with the migrant crisis in Europe. I lived adjacent to the Cologne train station when I was a summer intern at a Cologne-based bank in 2004, and I have gone back on several occasions to visit their Christmas market. In near-year living in Germany (over three different stints) I have even picked up the language. Because Germans are so burdened by their collective guilt over the Second World War, many are timid about stating the obvious: a disproportionate number of crimes in that country (and Europe) are committed by immigrants who fit the profile of the recent migrants. With a weak track record on integrating (some) immigrant groups, it is surely foolish to assume that accepting more of the same will yield any different results. Kai L. Chan, Dubai. Letter as it appeared in the NP © 2016 National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.

World Strategy Summit concludes in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI, 18th November 2015 (WAM) - Participants at the World Strategy Summit, which was held under the theme of ‘Strategic Leadership for the Future’, emphasized the importance of establishing an international platform for strategy, leadership, and innovation. This platform would contribute to building governmental and business sector leadership and would be based on a comprehensive vision to understand the nature of future opportunities and challenges. The platform could then be used to create measurable scientifically-based strategies that are flexible enough to tackle emerging changes to ensure sustainability. They also noted that the summit that was organized under the patronage of Lt. General HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, provided an opportunity for the world’s leading authorities to come together with senior businessmen and to discuss topics regarding strategy, leadership, and innovation. It also provided an unprecedented opportunity for governments and private companies to interact through the learning and exchange of ideas. This enables various competent parties to build strategic competencies to ensure a better future and to contribute to developing performance and enhancing their competitive edge. They also praised the interest of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and its efforts in…

WSS: Competitiveness to transform Dubai into a global city

Presentation at the World Strategy Summit. My talk was entitled "Competitiveness to transform Dubai into a global city". The slides can be found here.  

ABC: Dubai drill down: Economic outlook for the emirate

A presentation to the American Business Council of Dubai and the Northern Emirates on the "Economic outlook for the emirate". The slides can be found here.

Trudeau Cabinet reflects more diversity in new House

Trudeau Cabinet reflects more diversity in new House By CHRISTOPHER GULY | Published: Monday, 11/16/2015 12:00 am EST While women represent half of the 30-member Cabinet, they only account for 27 per cent of the Liberal caucus, or 50 of the record 88 female MPs elected from all five parties in this year’s election.   Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Cabinet might not perfectly reflect Canadian society, but it’s a better representation of the country’s diversity than the composition of the last Parliament, according to political economist and self-described “knowledge junkie” Kai Chan, an expatriate Canadian currently based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While he said that the share of female, minority, and French-speaking ministers in the new Liberal Cabinet, excluding Mr. Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) are essentially in line with their share in national demographics (at half, a quarter, and a quarter, respectively), there are no members from East Asian, black, Southeast Asian or Latin American communities, despite the fact those groups together account for 13 per cent of the Canadian population (and half of the minority population) with East Asians—the single largest ethnic minority group—representing 5.3 per cent. “There are also no Southeast Asians in the Liberal caucus, but…

Toronto Star: A cabinet that reflects Canada

Letter to the Toronto Star Published November 7, 2015 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is to be lauded for his commitment to a diverse cabinet, but gender is only one dimension of diversity. Although the minority share of cabinet posts (23 per cent) closely mirrors their share of Canada’s population (26 per cent), the cabinet counts no members from the East Asian, black, southeast Asian or Latin American communities even though East Asians are the single largest ethnic minority group in the country (5.3 per cent), and the aforementioned groups collectively form 13 per cent of Canada’s population. Kai L. Chan, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Letter as it appeared in the Toronto Star. © Copyright Toronto Star 1996-2015

The six workforce challenges you must tackle now

The six workforce challenges you must tackle now Author: Mark Townsend Something is stirring in the GCC. The flatlining oil price and the newfound maturity of many local economies are forcing organisations to think afresh about their business models, and to call time on the era of short-term, expat-reliant workforces in search of something more sustainable. But what does that mean for HR professionals and business leaders planning for the future? People Management speaks to a range of experts to build a comprehensive picture of the challenges organisations face in a reset GCC economy – and the innovative ways they are finding to flourish. 1 Find and develop talented nationals The GCC workforce faces profound challenges if it is to match the productivity levels of G20 economies: local businesses must be at the forefront of a drive to work both smarter and harder. But if their endeavours are to result in the widest possible and most sustainable prosperity, they must harness local talent at a time when the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and others are desperately trying to rebalance their economies away from oil and an over-reliance on the public sector. Dr Kai Chan, distinguished fellow at INSEAD’s Innovation and Policy…