Dubai Companies Need To Be Realistic – Yogesh Mehta

Dubai’s businesses need to be ‘realistic’ and ‘cut through the hype’, according to one of the region’s leading businessmen.

Speaking at the Canadian University of Dubai on Wednesday, Yogesh Mehta, founder and president of Petrochem Middle East, said the emirate still has a long way to go before it fully recovers from the global economic slump.

“We live in challenging times and business is very hard at the moment,” Mehta said.

“Dubai is a very resilient economy we will always shine – we will always look at the rainbow and see the pot of gold at the end of it.

“But there is a lot of hype around and the moment and we have to cut through that. There are reasons to be optimistic, but we need to separate the two and be realistic.”

Speaking candidly at a careers clinic hosted by Shane Phillips Consultants, Mehta – who featured in the Gulf Business Top 10 Indians Who Shaped The UAE – said even his own billion dollar company has had to react to the ongoing unrest in the region.

“Currently, we are looking for new ideas on how to grow the business, at new lines and vertical markets,” he said. “We are employing teams of people to examine the opportunities for us.

“Like many other companies in the region. We used to do a lot of business in the MENA region with countries like Syria, Egypt, Somalia and Yemen and that’s just not possible now.

“It is not a good time to be in business and it is not just the energy, chemical and petrochemical businesses that aren’t doing very well, many other businesses are struggling.

“If you look at the companies that are doing well they are generally, Procter & Gamble, Pepsi and such that supply low ticket consumer items.”

Despite the rather gloomy outlook, Mehta does believe Dubai continues to have a strong future.

“Of course, it is cyclical and within a few years demand will come back again. We’ll become profitable again. The whole landscape will change eventually as is the nature of business.”

“We do have to a realistic, but Dubai is shining there are lots of ideas here and likeminded people. Does Dubai have a great future? 100 per cent.”