NEWSMAKER: Tayer to embody Dubai`s new-found caution

By naming Ahmed Humaid al-Tayer as the new head of the Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai has put on a new face that it hopes will convey a new-found caution and dispel its image of recklessness.

The appointment of Tayer, 59, who has served in government for more than 30 years and is a prominent local businessman, is a message to investors at home and abroad that, following the financial crisis, Dubai has learnt from its mistakes and is turning over a new leaf.

"Tayer's appointment indicates that the city is intent to deal with the aftermath of the financial crisis in a different way," said politics professor Abdulkhaleq Abdulla.

"Primarily it is going to be much more cautious than in the pre-crisis period, much more modest for the next stage in its development."

Tayer is Dubai-born and bred, and though not a royal, belongs to a long-established merchant family in the emirate, one of seven members of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) federation.

After graduating in economics and political sciences from Cairo University in 1973, he quickly rose through the UAE government ranks, taking on a number of portfolios that included a 14-year stint as state minister of finance until 1997, and communications minister.

He is the chairman for both Emirates NBD — the second largest bank in the United Arab Emirates by market capitalisation — and the smaller Commercial Bank of Dubai.

His long line of experience in the public service and in the financial sector will help him deal with the fallout Dubai suffered during the global downturn in a more transparent manner, said Ebtisam al-Kitbi, political science professor at the UAE University.

"With the situation here, you need people who are rational ... Tayer has a lot of experience. He is a settled man. He is not running after fashions," she said.

"It is also about knowing how to reach your goal without propaganda, pretending there is nothing (wrong) ... Tayer has the capability."

Tayer also sits on the boards of state-owned Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) and state-owned refiner Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc), which recently made a USD 1.9 billion buyout bid for oil explorer Dragon Oil.

The reshuffle last week kept him on the board of the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the emirate's investment arm, as one of the board's only two members who do not belong to the ruling family.

Tayer's record is clean of the accusations of corruption that have overshadowed the reputation of other movers and shakers and he is trusted by the ruler and Emiratis themselves.

"He is needed now to be close to the sheikh and the leadership, this is a city in need of every single person that has valuable experience," Abdulla said.

Why his predecessor at the DIFC, Omar Bin Sulaiman, was dismissed so suddenly may take time to discover. Earlier this year, Nasser al-Shaikh, then finance director of Dubai, suffered a similar fate, with still no explanation forthcoming.

Shaikh was replaced by the lower-profile, but far more taciturn Abdulrahman al-Saleh, who has given only a handful of interviews since his appointment and rarely makes public appearances.

"There's a saying in private equity, The guy who drives the truck into the ditch isn't going to be the same guy that drives us out of the ditch," said Khuram Maqsood, managing director Emirates Capital.