How Dubai’s Hadi Badri Builds Confidence During A Crisis

When Iran launched missile and drone strikes against the Gulf on Feb. 28, Dubai faced an immediate test of its defenses, and a longer term threat to confidence. The city’s brand — a safe, efficient, business-friendly hub for capital, tourism, logistics, and talent — was suddenly under scrutiny from investors, multinational executives, and residents who had chosen to build their businesses and lives there.

Hadi Badri, who is tasked with enhancing the city’s global appeal as CEO of the Dubai Economic Development Corp., says the government had to overcome the instinct to turn inward. Instead it engaged, quickly and regularly sharing information with investors and businesses, and listening to concerns to project confidence that Dubai would emerge stronger.

In an interview on the sidelines of Semafor World Economy in Washington, DC, with Semafor's Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson and Mohammed Sergie, Badri describes a crisis response rooted in data: his team now tracks 200 economic indicators each day to get early alerts of stresses that broader, lagging metrics might miss. Dubai’s long-term goals remain unaltered, he says, with the city’s “D33” economic targets for 2033 and its population growth forecasts intact.

Here’s how he describes the lessons Dubai learned from previous crises, and why he believes a leadership “moat” will make this conflict look like a “speed bump” on the path to its long-term goals.

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