Who remembers 37th place?

Mastercard is in town pushing its Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index and while there are few surprises in the top 10 (see if you can list – one point per city, bonus point for the right ranking), it seems puzzling to see Dubai only at number 37. Puzzling, that is, if you believe all the IPO announcements, takeover deals and real estate mega-project launches make Dubai the center of the world.

In reality 37th, sandwiched between Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, is no bad effort given how much Dubai has progressed over the past 10 years. But Mastercard's assessment seems to be damning it with faint praise: The region's air and cargo traffic hub, Dubai also claims a flexible business climate that makes it optimal for growing companies.

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What lies beneath

Credit cards are an essential part of Gulf life, and not just to finance designer clothes and flashy watches. Some bills are practically impossible to pay unless you have the requisite plastic and thus, until the advent of proper debit cards, most wallets held at least one card bearing a Visa or MasterCard logo. These days banks offer credit cards to new customers as a matter of course, and that includes Islamic banks. Yet unlike their mainstream counterparts, Islamic banks, to their chagrin, must field awkward questions about what lies beneath the stamp of Shari’ah compliance. Read More