It went almost unnoticed that senior officials of Dubai’s giant holding company, Dubai World, paid a courtesy call on President Arroyo a few months back and reportedly said after the talks that they will explore possible investments in port development, among others.
This is something that the Philippine government should pursue aggressively. It’s too good an opportunity to pass up as the oil and gas-rich Dubai has been looking for additional areas to invest in.
Being an archipelago, we need bigger and more modern ports. Our coastlines measure 235,973 sq.km, which is even longer than that of the United States, and the best way to transport goods and people around the country would be via ships.
Also given the Philippines’ strategic location within the international trade routes, we have the potential to become a major transhipment point for world commerce. Singapore and Hong Kong earn something like $20 billion a year on transhipments alone.
With our many excellent natural harbors, we can probably do even better. And Dubai World could be our ticket to the big leagues in the international maritime business.
That Dubai World chairman, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem himself, led the top-level delegation to Malacañang showed just how keen Dubai World is about investing in the Philippines. Mr. Bin Sulayem was accompanied by UAE’s Ambassador to the Philippines, Mohammed Ibrahim Al Juwaid; DP World CEO Mohammed Sharaf; DP World Asia Pacific director Peter Wong; and DP World’s Asian Terminal’s executive vice president Suhail Al Banna.
Dubai World owns DP World, one of largest marine terminal operators and developers in the world with 42 marine terminals in operation and 13 more under development in 27 countries. In 2006, DP World moved a mind-boggling 42 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container units). If placed end-to-end, the number of containers it handled last year would span the globe five times over.
With the new marine terminal developments, the company’s global capacity is projected to expand by more than double to 90 million TEU by 2017.
Apart from marine terminals, DP World has interest in the logistics businesses in Hong Kong and China; it owns the Hong Kong-based ATL, which is the market leader in warehouse and office leasing, cargo handling, container freight station and distribution services.
The company also operates the Melbourne, Australia-based P&O Maritime Services, which is a specialist provider of maritime services to governments, particularly for the defense, science and security sectors, and to industry, mainly for the bulk services sector.
DP World already has a foothold in the Philippines; its Southeast Asia Regional Office is based here. It also partly owns the Asian Terminal Inc., which operates the South Harbor terminal, the Port of Batangas, the Mariveles Grains Terminal and the Port of South Cotabato. With a little more persistent wooing, we might be able to persuade DP World to expand its presence here.
DP World was formed in September 2005, a product of the integration of the Dubai Ports Authority (DPA) and the Dubai Ports International (DPI). DPI started in 1999 with just one port, the Jeddah Islamic Port in Saudi Arabia but gradually began expanding, first to Djibouti, Somalia and then to Vizag, India and to Constanta, Romania. In January 2005, DPI’s acquired CSX Corp.’s international terminal business, CSX World Terminals (CSX WT). This strategic acquisition gave the company a strong presence in Asia with major operations in Hong Kong and China as well as operations in Australia, Germany, Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
The acquisition of CSX WT’s projects in the pipeline, which included the nine-berth Pusan Newport in South Korea and the other projects in the rapidly expanding markets of India and the Middle East further enhanced DPI’s international posture.
In quick succession following the CSX acquisition, DPI won the mandate to construct, develop and operate an international container transhipment terminal at Vallarpadam, Kochi, India in February 2005; a 30-year concession to operate the container terminal at the Port of Fujiarah in the UAE in March 2005; and the management contract for Mina Zayed Port in Abu Dhabi in July 2005.
Shortly after DPI’s merger with DPA, the company, now known as DP World, continued its aggressive binge, inking agreements to develop container terminals at Yarimca, Turkey and Qingdao, China in November 2005. Then, in a bold move that catapulted it into the ranks of a major global player, DP World bought the venerable P&O Group for $6.8 billion in March 2006. The acquisition expanded its portfolio of terminals and added P&O Ferries, P&O Estates and P&O Maritime Services to its business portfolio.
DP World is renowned all over the world for its management savvy, innovativeness and stringent security.
Its flagship operation, Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, has been voted “Best Seaport in the Middle East” for 13 consecutive years. Lloyd’s List, the world’s leading maritime and transport publication gave DP World its highly coveted “Port Operator of the Year Award” in 2006.
DP World built the largest man-made port that was the first in the world to use huge, quayside cranes that can move four loaded 20-foot containers in a single lift.
Its terminal operation in Pusan, South Korea uses one of the widest cranes in the world that can on-load and off-load containers in one crane cycle rather than two. The Pusan operation is among the first in the world to employ this new technology, which is designed to meet the needs of the new generation of mega-vessels.
The company is also the first global marine terminal operator to obtain an ISO/PAS 280000:2005, a certification that its security management systems and operations comply with international standards.
Dubai World, which is owned by the government of Dubai, manages a wide range of business portfolio and has been the main driving force behind the dramatic transformation of Dubai from sleepy and virtually unknown oil and gas-rich emirate into a premier tourist draw. Tourist arrivals there have zoomed from a little over one million a decade ago to about seven million in 2006, and are projected to more than double to 15 million by 2010.
Its unique “The Palm Islands” mixed-use development off the cost of Dubai, consisting of world’s three biggest man-made islands shaped like palm trees, reflects the kind of bold, innovative and high-impact creativity of Dubai World planners. This engineering marvel has been featured in the National Geographic channel’s “ MegaStructures”. It so huge that the only way to see the palm shaped reclamation project is from the space.
A brewing rivalry
The business headlines during this long weekend hint a brewing rivalry between two daughters and heiresses of their taipan fathers. One is still in her 50s and is now taking the lead in most of the businesses her father (known for his trademark Hawaiian shirts) built, which cover real estate, shopping malls and banks. Let’s call her “The Sweet Charmer.” The other must be in her late 50s or early 60s, and is likewise calling the shots in majority of her ambassador dad’s ventures. Theirs is a fortune made out of banking, insurance and even engineering. Her people say she has a smoldering passion for excellence and results, so let’s give her a sexy tag—“Hidden Desire.”
Now clashing against each other may not really be something that both ladies would want, but their sheer positions in their respective business conglomerates make competitions (hopefully, friendly) and comparisons quite inevitable. Filipinos, after all, love rivalries.
For the longest time, The Sweet Charmer has seemingly enjoyed a slight edge over Hidden Desire. The former has a huge network of similarly hugmongous shopping malls all over the country and in some parts of the globe. That alone, translates to numerous retail outlets which she can leverage on for her other businesses. More than that, Hidden Desire has all these years opted to play the game silently, without fanfare—and befitting her tag “hidden.” In recent years, however, the latter is slowly but surely picking up the pace in her own group of companies and is fast joining in the elite list of the local economy’s movers and shakers.
The ladies are said to espouse quite differing management styles. The mall queen is known for her very hands on management of her father’s businesses. That, she admits is something she learned from her mentor. While keeping a tight rein in her own ship, the insurance empress has masterfully learned the art of delegation and made very good choices in hiring highly qualified professionals to manage her businesses.
Of late, Hidden Desire’s businesses have also been doing very well. Probably inspiring her key managers to perform to their utmost with the confidence she is showing them, they have also made it their commitment to deliver good results. As if their fortunes are really entwined, the Halloween business headlines showed their banks both acquiring smaller institutions, effectively expanding their respective branch networks. And speaking of their banking interests, the ladies share another thing. They have two brilliant brothers managing their respective financial groups. Now will this spark another rivalry, sibling—this time?
As far as reports on their banking performances, however, news stories say one bank is doing better. The slightly smaller bank’s income is reportedly rising aggressively, while the larger one’s revenues are rather flat. Talk about a catch up story!
Given all of these developments, we wonder how this brewing rivalry will end.
For comments, e-mail at philstarhiddenagenda@yahoo.com