Dubai's business community is ecstatic about Halliburton's announcement that it will move its headquarters to the city known for its lax or non-existent restrictions on corporations. And while the company is telling Americans that its executives are simply moving to locate closer to the action, those who know better are being much more candid.
"I'm sure everyone in Dubai, especially the government of Dubai, is ecstatic," Yusef Ibrahim, managing director for the Strategic Energy Investment Group (SEIG), told WBUR Radio's On Point program. SEIG's clients include some of the best-known Western corporations with business in Dubai, including Exxon Mobil, British Petroleum, Norway's Statoil, France's Totalfinaelf and JP Morgan.
"I think they are rushing toward what I would call a "comfort zone." Ibrahim explained. "Dubai is a "comfort zone" because what many people here in the United States would consider "corruption" is not necessarily considered a vice in a place like Dubai. It's a very free-wheeling atmosphere where all kinds of businessmen come and they don't expect too many questions to be asked. Don't forget that Dubai from its inception was conceived as a place where you can -- how shall we say -- go around the rules. Dubai started out as a place from which you smuggled gold to India and the subcontinent. And then it evolved. And today it's still considered the largest spot on the earth where you launder money. All the Russian moguls came there. I don't mean that it's a place that spends all its time doing things that are irregular, but basically it prefers to let people work under soft light rather than under spotlights."
"Halliburton is a known quantity. ... It works in areas and with countries that deal in oil and weapons. Halliburton has worked with Iran in the past -- directly and indirectly. The Middle East is an area where you need some ambiguity when it comes to things like paying commissions. Other people would call it "bribes."But this is the way business is done out there. You can't be constantly scrutinized. You can't forget that Halliburton is now under tremendous scrutiny and a number of investigations. Especially KBR. It has had a history that has disturbed some people in Congress...they would feel a lot more comfortable in a place like Dubai."
In an article for the New York Sun today, Ibrahim elaborated that "Halliburton and Dubai qualify as the perfect marriage."
Yeah, like a corporate crime version of Bonnie and Clyde.
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