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• Patel soy> he estJbllshe<I Wall Street Exchange to help Indians remitting money from Cubal to India.

T IIERE ARE FEW P.EOPLE' MUCH LESSimmigrants, who can recall thedays when Dubai truly was littlemore than a stretch of sand.Sheikh Zayed Road was a mere

two lanes and the tallest building was a fewstoreys high. The population consisted ofa scartenng of people in a dusty city littleknown internationally.

That was until oil was discovered andthousands of foreigners flocked to the emir-ate to seek the opportunities. Among themwas an ambitious 20-something-year-oldIndian immigrant named Asgar Patel.

Butwhat made Patel stand out in the early1970s was that he had already proven hisindependent business acumen after build-ing up the largest Asian transport company

at the time, Patel Roadways, despite his age.He arrived in Dubai with the cash needed

to kick-starr his own ventures, ironicallybenefitting from the earnings of his fellowAsian expats who typically worked as low-paid labourers. WallStreet Exchange Centrebecame the UAE'slargest and oldest foreignexchange and money transfer company andwas a lifeline for many who came La relyon Dubai to support their families backhome. Remittances from Dubai are amongthe highest in the world, with nearly $I3bntransferred out of the country last year,according 10 UAEExchange.

Patel says he could sniff the money-making opportunities in the Middle Eastfrom 2,000km away.

"Because Iwas educated in England I

34

didn't really like India, to be honest withyou, Therefore I came to Dubai," Patel says.

"First thing, it was a tax haven. Secondly.the government really encouraged invest-ment very much. Sheikh Rashid, the fatherof Sheikh Mohammed, I used to knowpersonally, Things were different in thosedays; you could talk to them. sit and have acup of tea with them.

"I established the exchange centre to helpthe increasing number of Indians remittingmoney from Dubai to India. Dubal was justbuilding up so labourers had to send themoney back to lndia. Being in the roadwaysbusiness Ididn't see any difference to trans-porting money. One thing went by wire andone thing went by truck."

Patel spread the firm to the UKand Hong

years ago. Then. ever the money maker, hecontinued to build up the business until hefinally relinquished the final 40 percent toEmirates Post far even more than the first.much larger. stake.

That was last year and while Patel remainsin Dubai, much of the money doesn't. Simi-lar to his vision as a young man, he has hissights set all a new emerging market and it'snot where most would think.

"When they gave me that money - thesubstantial cash in my hand -I went look-ingforanotherplace [(0 invest in], so Jwenton a world tour," Patel explains.

"I've got eight apartments in Dubai soif you take them at AED3-4rn per apart-ment, I've already got AED30m invested in[real estate]. Plus my own home takes it to

Kong, as well as other UAE emirates andused the profits to branch into real estate,amassing a large portfolio and creatingproperty advisor group House of Patels.

On the cusp of celebrating 40 years inDubai, Patel. who is now worth $400-500rnand is one of the richest Indians in theGulf.finally sold the exchange house to noneother than the Dubai government.

He first sold a 60 percent stake to stale-owned Emirates Post Group Holding five

$ltlbValue of remittances from Dubai in2012, according to UAE Exchange.

35ARABIAN IIUSlNESSjVOL.I4/23

INVESTMENT

"Being in the roadwaysbusiness I didn't see anydifference to transportingmoney. One thing went bywire and one thing wentby truck"AEDSO-60m invested already in Dubai, soobviously a prudent businessman wouldlike to spread risk. In fndia I've got over 100acres of land, so there's no sense in investingmore in India, also.

"So Iwent on a tour of the world."After nine months scouting big-name

cities such as New York, London, HongKong and Singapore, Patel seuled on Thai-land, a nation famous for its tourism andgracious people.

"London was good bULthe taxation wasvery high and there arc debt duties so thereare too many complications to stay out ofthe [top] tax bracket," he says. "Anotherchoice was obviously the US but I find ittoo difficult to control the US because it'seighteen to 20 hours flying [to get there).

"Then r went east, that is to Singapore,which was too expensive. Iwent to HongKong - I'm a resident of Hong Kong - andit was far too expensive. So out of logicaldeduction it came to Thailand.

"Singapore is now so out-priced that theSingaporeans in fact find it easier to live andwork in Thailand. If they have a businessit's easier to have a back office in Thailandand still have an office in Singapore because

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INVESTMENT

"It's a peculiar thing:when you do well,everybody becomesyour friend"Thailand is 25-30 percent of the cost of(operating in] Singapore. So my costs comedown by nearly 70 percent. It's that cheapworking out ofThailand."

Patel says Thailand is the quiet achieversitting snugly between its booming neigh-bours, China and India, who have beenreceiving all the attention,

"The rate of growth [inThailand] remainsbetween five to six percent. That's a veryhigh rate by any standards because Indiaitself is struggling at 5.5 percent and Chinaat seven to 7.5 percent," he says.

"There's nothing wrong with Dubai, it'sone of the greatest countries in the world.Living in Dubai is a lifestyle but... who reallylives in Dubai? Jt'sacountryofconvenience,where people come and live for the lifestyleand [because it's a] very clean country andno income tax."

Patel has committed about S1QOmto twoprojects in Thailand. In particular, he is theanchor investor in what will be the coun-try's tallest skyscraper, MahaNakon Tower,a $630m mixed-use tower in Bangkok dueto be completed in 2015.

The development includes residencesand hotel rooms that will be operated byRitz-Carlton. Patel says it will be the mostluxurious hotel in Bangkok. He says therising Thai baht means he already hasmade ten percent on his investment,which includes two penthouses and

be during the oil boom, Asia is now wherethe opportunities lie.

"The future lies in Asia, not that there'sanything wrong with the West. TheWest has shown us the way but the Westhas developed already; the East has todevelop," Patel says.

"There's a competition going on nowbetween China and India but where willthey grow? Everybody is after Thailand; it'sa place of the future. Why? There are twogreat powers competing forThailand: one isIndia, the second is China. Both need Thai-land so both are trying to support Thailandin its growth.

"India is now proposing a road into Thai-land [and] if that road, or railway, comes upthen Thailand is the future as far as Indiais concerned. [Also] the people have a verysimilar culture, [ wouldn't say the same butit's a similar culture. So that makes workingvery easy.

"At the same time, from the other side,China would like to get into Thailand so

they also want to make inroads into Thai-land and have connections so that theirpeople can expand. The rich Chinese haveto get out of China because it's Commu-nist ... so you get into a better country andthere can't be a better country than Thai-land for them. A lot ofThais are descendedfrom Chinese blood, so again the cultureformation is really easy."

Countries such as Japan also are Increas-inglyseeklng their manufactured parts fromThailand, where labour is much cheaper.The country also is expected to benefit froma move to create one visa for all of the tenAssociation of South East Asian Nations(ASEAN)members.

"It didn't take me a long time to decidethat this is the future place to invest in,"Patel says. "If you want to invest yourmoney in a safe haven, if you want yourmoney to double, if you want to live thereand it's not just an investment, I have trav-elled all over the world and Iwould say thebest place is Thailand."

• Patel Is the anchor _In _ will be Thailand's biles! skyscraper, the MahaNakon Tower.

36 ARAIIIAN BUSINr:.sslvoL.14123 "S7

• AsIa Is now """'" the opportunities He,Patel says.

s~veral apartments, since the beginningof the year.

"I came back to Dubai and bought aRolls-Royce ... to celebrate," he says.

As many good business deals are done,Patel's interest in MahaNakon Tower wassecured over a game of golf, one of histreasured hobbies.

Patel says much as the West was theeconomic driver during the industrial revo-lution and the Middle East was the place to

INVESTMENT

l;"-:• - - seeJns. big potentIaI- has committed

_ $lOOm to two projects In ThaIland.

Patel's move into Thailand marksalmost a full cifele from where he beganin Mumbai, India. At nineteen, those firstbusiness pursuits were sparked out of thelove for a woman his family had tried toprevent him marrying.

"I married a woman I fell in love with.She's a Catholic and I'm a Muslim so myparents said 'enough no more [money!',"Patel says.

"In India it's arranged marriages. Mydad said 'if you take the girl of my choiceyou'll have a piece of the business; if youtake the girl of your choice you'll stand onyour own feet. So [ said 'well, I take the girlof my choice and I'll stand on my own feet'and it worked."

Patel borrowed money at an excessively

high rate of 28 percent to buy one lorry,which swiftly turned into a trucking empire.

"By 1962 [ was practically a million-aire," he says. <II started with one truckarid I multiplied it until Ihad 2,000 trucks,800 branches in India and employed10,000 people.

"That's when r thoughtenough is enough,let me move on', so I made it publicly limitedand moved to Dubai."

He has maintained his roots in India,where he owns several real estate develop-ments and is building more. He also has18krn of waterfront land that he's hopingto turn into a resort with the Ritz-Carltonif all goes well with the Mahalcakon Towerpartnership.

He is also still married after 50 years andthe couple have two sons and a daughter,while he has managed to rekindle the rela-tionship with his family.

"Itended up okay,but at the time it wasn't,"Patel says. "Its a peculiar thing: when you dowell, everybody becomes your friend." Ii!il

$630mValue of the MahaNakon Tower project.