Essa Kazim's BlackBerry buzzes constantly as messages and e-mails arrive, but the founding managing director of the Dubai Finacial Market occassionaly manages to tear himself away from such modern distractions.
"I'm one of those who had experienced old Dubai, very old Dubai. I remember the days when we didn't have air conditioners. We had that experience and I remember that," Mr Kazim, 51, says. His memories of his old house close to the present-day Al Nasr Square, when there were few roads and even fewer cars, are still vivid. "It is something that is always at the back of your mind and it's part of your memory. You and the neighbours playing soccer close by. It was very relaxing environment ? no fear, no cars," Mr Kazim recalls.
He grew up in a city where life was not frantic and people did not expect ready-made solutions. He used to make his own toys as there were not many to be bought at the shops. Mr Kazim recognises with sadness that it is difficult for the next generation to have similar experiences, but he shares his memories with his inquisitive sons, giving them glimpses into an era he cherished. "I wish the next generation can have these experiences ? They ask 'in the past what did you do?' They do ask these questions," he says.
Mr Kazim's fondness for the old days in Dubai is perhaps all the greater as he left the city as a young man for the US on a Ministry of Education scholarship. The drastic change of scenery, and climate, came as something of a shock. "It snows eight months a year in Iowa and when it snows it stays there. It was really an extreme weather change for me," he recalls. In 1985, he finished his four-year pre-engineering programme, graduating with mathematics and computer sciences as majors, but his passion for economics, an elective subject, drove him to pursue a Master's degree in the subject from the University of Iowa in 1987.
Mr Kazim went on to get another Master's degree in total quality management from the University of Wollongong in the UAE in 1998. His first assignment back home was with the Central Bank's research and statistics department for five years. After that he joined Dubai's Department of Economic Development until the Government decided to launch the DFM in 2000. But the relatively quiet days of working on research reports are a memory almost as distant as the car-free streets of Dubai. Now Mr Kazim and his BlackBerry are inseparable and even on holiday he cannot switch off.
"I take holidays but there are not holidays like normal people's," he says. "That luxury is not there. If you are on vacation and you want to have peace of mind you can't. What can you do? You are tied to the market." His job keeps him busy in the city for five days a week but he likes to leave on weekends. The time spent at his family farm house in the Northern Emirates is Mr Kazim's weekly escape from the office, although he also makes an effort while being in Dubai to take the family out for dinners and to catch up on his reading when he finds the time.
But it is no wonder he has little time for a break. Mr Kazim has become one of the most prominent executives in Dubai's financial landscape. He sits on the boards of the Dubai International Financial Centre, Noor Islamic Bank and the Dubai Council of Economic Affairs. He is the chairman of Borse Dubai, the government-owned holding firm for DFM and its sister exchange, NASDAQ Dubai. Borse Dubai grabbed the world's attention when it went on a shopping spree three years ago, buying stakes in some of the largest exchanges. Today, the company holds a 19.9 per cent stake in NASDAQ OMX Group, the world's largest exchange company, and a 22 per cent stake each in Italy's Borse Italiana and the London Stock Exchange.
But Mr Kazim's first interest is the DFM. The Dubai exchange, with 66 listings, has come a long way from its humble beginnings and the transformation has been a roller coaster ride for everyone involved. The total market capitalisation of DFM-listed companies rose from Dh21 billion (US$5.71bn) a decade ago to Dh215bn at the end of March. But the current market capitalisation is down by about half since its peak of Dh500bn in 2005. A decline in trade volumes has also cut the DFM's profitability.
Mr Kazim knows the reasons for the poor showing and is working on a solution. "We don't have actual representation of the true Dubai economy on the exchange. I tell this to people a lot who ask why is it DFM performance last year was one of the worst," he explains. Companies in the financial, property and construction sectors, the main victims of the global downturn, make up about 70 per cent of the market cap on DFM and Mr Kazim wants this to change.
He is targeting companies in trade, education, utilities, transport and logistics, retail, health care and hospitality to list on the DFM and he is not shying away from knocking on doors. "We have become proactive and we are going and knocking at their doors." His charm is certainly working as some of the large family-owned businesses are already showing a willingness to list on the DFM. Late last year the DFM announced a takeover of NASDAQ Dubai in a $121 million deal that presents additional challenges for Mr Kazim, who wants NASDAQ Dubai to be a regional growth platform for the DFM.
But before that can happen, he needs to bring up liquidity on the exchange. Mr Kazim does not share the opinion of people who say the DFM, with excess cash on the balance sheet, should diversify its investment portfolio. "You need to concentrate on your core business. We should not be an investment company and whatever cash we have should be reinvested in the core business or in a business where there are synergies. It has to be a calculated risk," he says, adding that he aims to invest in the sectors he understands, leaving others to do what they know best.
Outside on the streets of the emirate where he grew up there may no longer be space among the cars for football with friends but Mr Kazim, a keen supporter of Al Ahli, still has a love for the game that rivals his passion for the DFM. "You cannot be away for a while and not think about it," he says, glancing once more at his BlackBerry. "You don't have a choice ? you have to be attached to the market no matter what you do."
skhan@thenational.ae