Startups as Stimulus for Dubai

Today in

, Mishaal al Gergawi - who,

, has emerged as Dubai's most prominent critical thinker -

:

Section off a large government-owned development and offer its offices and shops, in shell and core state, to entrepreneurs and artists for a minimal all-in Dh5,000 licence fee, effectively deregulating entrepreneurship.

, and furthers a line of thinking on the future of Dubai that has been quietly emerging over the last year.

It was best articulated by

's

, who looked at the idea of startups as stimulus

s:

The time is right to create value at the sme level, create an ecosystem that incubates startups, make Dubai a globally-attractive place for top minds to start their new technology businesses, and create new momentum for Dubai outside the declining property boom and alongside the draw of tourism.

Another prominent Dubai figure who is calling for a new entrepreneurial economy to push the city out of crisis is Nabil Alyousuf, a former right hand man of Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid. He was plugged into top-level Dubai thinking during the boom and

.

I could go on (

) but it seems pretty clear that this is an idea whose time has come - the most powerful force on Earth,

. But will it be embraced? And will it actually happen? I have my doubts for a whole bunch of reasons, but it is certainly

the

economic story of Dubai for 2010.