Fujairah's Importance to Global Shipping, Energy & Property

**Tim** (0:00)
From our Morning Drive Archive, we're bringing together two conversations on why Fujairah is becoming one of the UAE's most strategically important hubs. As global trade routes evolve and supply chains adapt to geopolitical uncertainty, what role will the Emirate play in energy, logistics and real estate? I've been speaking with Frank Kane, who's the editor at large at Arabian Gulf Business Insights, and Ajay Menon, CEO of Luxe Vista Properties, about Fujairah's growing importance to global shipping, to energy security, property investment, and the UAE's long-term economic growth. Mira Business FM, Dubai's home of business radio.
Question for you, why are developers ignoring Fujairah? That's what we're going to talk about. Ajay Menon is back in the studio. More real estate. Ajay is the CEO of Luxe Vista Real Estate in Dubai. Nice to see you.

**Ajay Menon** (0:57)
Nice to see you, Tim. Good morning.

**Tim** (0:59)
So, Fujairah today, Ajay, most people know about the shiny skyscrapers. They're aware of the business and tourism hub that we are in here in Dubai.
All they know about Abu Dhabi is the financial hub, the cultural hub. There's a shift happening, I think, on the UAE's east coast, a place where traditionally things move at a slightly gentler pace. Fujairah is a great weekend getaway from the pace and the pressure of life in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I would contend, first of all, that's my first point to you.

**Ajay Menon** (1:33)
It's lovely. It used to be, but I'm very surprised that it is so underappreciated.

**Tim** (1:39)
I think you're right. You know when I first went there when I was a child? My father did a job in Fujairah as an engineer.
So that would be 1980 I went for one summer and they were building a seawall along the seafront there, and it was kind of quaint, a seaside place. It's changed a bit now though, of course.

**Ajay Menon** (2:00)
In my previous career, Fujairah was the place. I was a commodity trader. I was a marine fuels trader. So Fujairah was the hub. I mean, it's still the hub.

**Tim** (2:08)
I knew you'd done something else apart from this real estate game.
No, I mean, it really was, but it's right back in the forefront at the moment, for some fairly obvious reasons in terms of the conflict backdrop, if you like. In the world of shipping, and I guess bunkering as well, Fujairah holds a pretty important position in the Emirates, and to be fair, probably regionally, I think that's an important position. So we could see potentially a major real estate story here.

**Ajay Menon** (2:37)
That is correct, especially DP World just announced that they're going to create a new multipurpose port to expand the container handling. This is to get the cargo directly on the Gulf of Oman instead of entirely relying on Jabal Ali Port, which is inside the Strait of Hormuz.
Definitely, it's a wider national strategy for limiting geopolitical risk like what we've seen now.

**Tim** (3:05)
Yeah.

**Ajay Menon** (3:05)
But what was Fujairah before? Fujairah was always a bunkering hub. Bunkering means refueling of ships. Yes. So when the ships are being refueled, there's a lot of crew change, there's a lot of things that happen. So Fujairah for shipping, it's very important. And it's not just the regional bunkering hub, it is number two in the entire world. Singapore comes first. Number two is Fujairah. Number three is Antwerp, Rotterdam.

**Tim** (3:33)
I didn't realize that.

**Ajay Menon** (3:35)
So it is very important. And what used to happen is, now we've seen Fujairah getting more and more prominence. The first Etihad Rail was from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah. Now, Adnok will also have a Hapsan Fujairah oil pipeline to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
So now you get the drift, how Fujairah is. So this is exactly how Jabal Ali Port was evolved over the repeat.

**Tim** (4:01)
Yeah, I'm joining the dots. I was going to make the point, actually, Fujairah is well served by Etihad Rail from the outset.
So the big picture as to why the UAE is making this kind of major push towards the Gulf of Oman, if you like, is a great deal to do with the Indian Ocean really. It's a great deal to do with what we've seen over the last four months or so.

**Ajay Menon** (4:24)
That is correct.

**Tim** (4:25)
Yeah.

**Ajay Menon** (4:25)
So that means the government is focusing on that particular area.
So what follows? So if and when the DP World Port starts getting operational, thousands of jobs will be created in the shipping, logistics and warehousing, that kind of jobs. So then government is already putting the money in. Industrial parks and warehousing will come up.