The Hidden Costs of Life in Dubai
Nearly 1,000 business school graduates from 35 countries have voted Dubai as the best place in the world to live and work. And, really, I can’t argue with them: the emirate is dynamic, it’s politically stable, it’s warm and sunny, salaries are generally higher than they’d be back home, there’s no income tax and it has lovely beaches – for a business graduate with good job prospects, what’s not to love?
Dubai has all the “excitement of an emerging market and all the perks of an international city” Sam Barnett, CEO of MBC group, told Gulf News. Add to that fantastic job opportunities with top multinationals and a high quality of life, and it sounds like the ideal country in which to kick-start your career.
But, and this is a big but, an Economist Intelligence Unit report out last week warns those thinking of retrenching to the UAE to be aware of the “hidden costs”. It mentions, in particular, the high price of housing – not just rent, but all the associated costs, such as maintenance, service fees and utilities (in summer, a family in a reasonable villa can easily rack up a water and electricity bill of AED 5,500 [£1,000] a month) – and the price of education.
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