Unsafe environment for investment: UAE’s hegemony threatens major companies

In light of its illegal interventions and ambitions to exploit foreign investors, the UAE’s regime has become a dangerous threat to major companies in the country.

International observers unanimously agree that the spread of corruption and the weak investment environment cause the collapse of the most significant economic institutions in the UAE, including the leading real estate company, Arabtec, and many others.

In recent days, a dispute between the heirs of late billionaire Majid Al Futtaim erupted over the wealth and ownership of properties left by the father. Observers say that the dispute was caused by the interference of the Ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid, who appointed a special judicial committee to look into potential legal disputes over the ownership of the late billionaire. Many others expect that the UAE’s authorities have already seized the wealth, estimated at $16 billion.

Mohammed bin Rashid appointed the committee against the background of reports of a dispute between the ten heirs of the late Emirati billionaire Majid Al Futtaim, who died in December 2021.

Emirati writer Abdul Ghaffar Hussein, who is close to the ruler of Dubai, said, “The wealth left by the late Majid Al Futtaim, as they say, exceeds $16 billion, or nearly sixty billion dirhams.”

He added that “the inheritance tax is applied in many countries of the world if the inheritance exceeds a certain amount of money”.

These statements met with a wave of rejection and condemnation, as this aims to steal the inheritance of the late Majid Al Futtaim and other businessmen in the country.

Tweeters stressed that the distribution of the legacy of the late Al-Futtaim and other senior business people in the UAE must be carried out according to Sharia, not the laws that the authorities are trying to market through media outlets and pens affiliated with them.

The company confirmed in a statement that “there is a special judicial committee whose role is to adjudicate potential legal disputes related to the issues of Mr Majid’s legacy and inheritance, and not to supervise the company or its business.”

According to Associated Press, the company operates VOX Cinemas and 29 malls in the Middle East, including the famous Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, which features an indoor ski slope, watching penguins and other experiences in subzero temperatures throughout the year.

The company also acquired a franchise for the French hypermarket chain Carrefour. It now operates more than 300 Carrefour supermarkets across Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

A previous family dispute between Majid Al Futtaim and his cousin Abdullah required the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to intervene and resolve it nearly two decades ago. When his death was announced in December, the ruler of Dubai, Mohammed Majid Al Futtaim, was described as one of Dubai’s “most important merchants”.

Al-Futtaim, whose namesake company operates more than 29 malls across the region, has gone from working as a bank employee to creating a $16 billion business empire.

Al-Futtaim founded Majid Al Futtaim Holdings, a giant retail and entertainment company – known as MAF – in 1992.

His son, Tariq, is a member of the Group’s board of directors, members outside the family manage it, and the Group publishes its revenues and profits annually. In 2017, the Group achieved revenues of $8.8 billion, while profits amounted to $600 million.