A Vietnamese foreman barks orders at Asian workers toiling to complete a 30-storey residential tower in Dubai, seemingly unaffected by the emirate's debt woes. “I'm not worried,” said the 29-year-old at the dusty building site, who gave his name as Bac. “I have worked in Abu Dhabi and Dubai for six years. I think Dubai's future is good.” The once-booming Arab city, a byword for extravagant real estate projects built with foreign labor, scared global markets last week when it asked for a six-month payment delay on billions of dollars of debt owed by government-owned companies. Dubai has been hit hard by a world economic crunch that sent property prices tumbling 50 percent in little more than a year. Thousands of foreigners were fired and forced to leave. The Asians who make up most of Dubai's foreign workforce fret that they too might lose their jobs in the global gloom, but so far they are taking Dubai's debt crisis in their stride. “They said they are going to delay, they didn't say they are not going to pay,” said Husen Baba, an Indian working at an advertising agency, as flag-waving, horn-hooting Emiratis drove past in celebrations of United Arab Emirates national day. “I'm not worried. The downturn is all over the world,” the 37-year-old from Mumbai said. “This is my 12th year in Dubai. I don't think I'll find a better place to live.” Nationals from the Indian subcontinent account for more than half of Dubai's fast-growing population, now estimated at 1.7 million, of which Emiratis make up barely 10 percent. Word of Dubai's debt difficulties has scarcely thinned the crowds flocking to the numerous moneychangers in Satwa, a bustling downtown Asian community thick with restaurants and textile shops, to send cash home to their families. Sudhir Kumar Shetty, chief operating officer of UAE Exchange, one of the country's largest money exchange houses with branches elsewhere in the Gulf and beyond, said transfers from Dubai had dropped slightly but extra business from two other emirates, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, had compensated. “We haven't seen any change in volumes since the news (of the debt standstill) broke. As long as expatriates are employed, they will make remittances,” he said. Many taxi drivers in Dubai, who work on a commission basis, continue to send up to half their earnings home. “I usually earn up to AED3,500 UAE ($950) per month,” said Resham Thapa, a taxi driver from Nepal. “I send about AED2,000 a month to my parents, my younger brother, my wife and son. But this doesn't make me happy, I want to be with them.” Mumbai-based HDFC Bank said in a report on Wednesday Dubai's debt problems could eventually affect remittances to India. “While we are already expecting a decline in private transfers this year, Dubai's debt crisis means that private transfers could come under additional pressure and impact states in the south such as Kerala,” the report said. It said the UAE accounts for 10-12 percent of total private transfers to India, which make up nearly 3 percent of its GDP. “We have already seen the first round of job losses in Dubai as a result of the global crisis. Indians lost their jobs and they remitted less,” said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi-Credit Agricole Group in Riyadh. “We haven't seen the impact of the latest events yet but the loss of confidence could follow and that will impact remittances,” he said.
