Dubai Travel Guide

Construction of the 73-storey Dubai Pearl – ranked alongside the Las Vegas CityCenter as the most valuable single construction contract in the world – is finally due to begin, Abdul Majeed Al Fahim, Pearl Dubai chairman, told Construction Week.

Al Fahim also revealed that the main towers of the US $2.4 billion (AED8.85 billion) mixed-use development would be constructed to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (Leed) Gold standard – the second highest rung on the Leed ladder, which rates the environmental friendliness of buildings.

“The main towers will definitely be to gold certification,” Al Fahim said. “That is our target, and (the towers will) cover the majority of the entire development.”

The main contractor, Al Habtoor Leighton Group, has engineers working on-site while enabling work, being carried out by the Al Habtoor STFA Soil Group, is nearing completion.

The Dubai Pearl will be located at the centre of “New Dubai” overlooking the Palm Jumeirah.
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U.S. Open finalist Andy Murray pulled out of the Dubai Tennis Championships today because of a viral infection.

The Scot has struggled with the infection since the Australian Open, which ended Feb. 1. The fourth-ranked men’s player told reporters during a tournament in Rotterdam two weeks ago he’d been on antibiotics. He was given more antibiotics last night by the tournament doctor following his straight-sets win over Arnaud Clement of France in the second round.

“That didn’t help too much,” Murray said in a televised interview. “Nothing works so far. I am going to take a few days off and may go home tomorrow.”

He was supposed to play Richard Gasquet, another Frenchman, in the next round. Murray is the fourth top-10 player to withdraw from the event. Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal isn’t in Dubai because of a knee injury while second-ranked Roger Federer cited a back injury for his absence.
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Dubai Islamic Bank’s (DIB) total assets as of December 31, 2008, stood at AED84.6 billion, up slightly compared to AED83.7 billion at the end of the same period in 2007.

Customer deposits increased 2% to reach AED66.4 billion in 2008, compared to AED65 billion in 2007.

DIB’s full-year results reflect total impairment provisions of AED521 million, including writedowns on its investment portfolio, and mark-to-market losses on equity investments of AED277 million.