RADHA STIRLING - SUCCESSFUL CLIENTS
Dr Khater Massaad
“I have been dealing with massive corruption coming out of the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah for years. Khater Massaad is one of several individuals targeted by the tyrant ruler, who embarked on a “purge” of foreign workers he considered a potential threat to his rule and who he thought may sympathise with his rival brother. He locked up those he could, and pursued the others relentlessly through Interpol and further attempts to enforce his own unevidenced legal judgments internationally." Radha Stirling, CEO and founder of Detained in Dubai
Former advisor to RAK ruler Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi and CEO of RAKIA and RAK Ceramics, Dr Khater Massaad, has been the target of a years-long campaign that has seen repeated legal abuses in an “anything goes” approach to politically motivated judicial relief.
The Swiss government is being asked to increase travel warnings against the UAE, and investors are being discouraged from doing business specifically in Ras Al Khaimah by prominent rights group Detained in Dubai.
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“The slogan for Ras Al Khaimah should be, ‘Invest in RAK, where no good deed goes unpunished;” says CEO Radha Stirling about the small northernmost emirate in the UAE, “Nothing makes this point better than the case of Swiss national Khater Massaad.”
The small northern emirate of Ras Al Khaimah is aggressively soliciting foreign investment, but eager Israeli investors should be wary. The government of RAK, under Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al Qassimi has been waging a relentless campaign against everyone who put the tiny emirate on the investment map. At a time when Israeli business people are exploring opportunities opened in the UAE by the Abraham Accords, RAK’s growing brushfire of litigation internationally is sending a strong signal that they do not want foreign business.
You mentioned that some of the most important spearheads of the economy are industrial, real estate and tourism. Which one is the most important for RAK?
In my opinion, the industrial sector is the most important part of any economy. Today, the industrialised countries are the richest countries. G7 members are industrialised countries.Therefore, it is important for us to concentrate on and attract industrial investments in Ras Al Khaimah. Industry will continue to grow. The RAK Investment Authority has given licences to more than 400 industries in the last three years. This is very interesting. The real estate sector is important to support the development of industry and tourism but the sector in itself is not a money-maker or generator: you cannot export real estate. Tourism is also very important as we have 65 km of beautiful coastline and we have to take advantage of the tourism boom which has taken place in the UAE. Europe can be a very good destination. Therefore, we have to develop the tourism sector. I believe the industrial sector will grow. At least 3 sectors will grow in the same way and at the same level.
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