Asian workers yet to feel heat in debt-laden Dubai

DUBAI, Dec 3 (Reuters) – 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 labour, 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 noisy celebrations of United Arab Emirates national day.

“I’m not worried. It’s just hype. 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. [ID:nGEE5AL070]