ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The chairman of Arabtec, the embattled Dubai construction firm that helped build the world’s tallest tower, moved to calm nervous investors Wednesday by promising to improve transparency at the firm and saying it retains the support of a major shareholder backed by the Abu Dhabi government.
Arabtec is Dubai’s largest construction company and played a key role in raising the skyscrapers, fancy villas and other buildings that have transformed the city into the Middle East’s commercial hub. Its operations extend beyond the Gulf, including an ambitious $40 billion housing initiative launched earlier this year in Egypt.
Investors’ confidence in the company has plunged in recent weeks following a series of setbacks, with shares tumbling by as much as 70 percent from their peak in May.
The rout has dragged down the broader Dubai stock market, rekindling concerns about financial stability in the emirate following its 2009 financial crisis.
Multibillion-dollar aid packages from oil-rich Abu Dhabi helped the neighboring emirate of Dubai get through that earlier crisis, and Dubai’s trade and transportation-dependent economy has since come roaring back as the global economy improved. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the seven-state United Arab Emirates federation.