This year will be a year of cautious growth for the mortgage lenders. People with stable employment and a decent salary with low debt, obtaining a mortgage will be relatively easy.

The largest and most significant addition to Dubai’s transport system will be the new Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali with the first expected flight to take off in June 2010.

The airport, which will be 10 times the size of the current Dubai International Airport and Dubai Cargo Village combined, will have six parallel runways and as many concourses. The first phase of the project will see the terminal initially handle 700,000 tonnes per annum. By 2013 it is expected to become the largest of its kind in the world, handling more than 12 million tonnes of cargo annually.

The high-profile event was split into three acts, the first act delighted guests with a co-ordinated water, light and firework display, mimicking the unfolding of the desert lily, the inspiration for the Burj Dubai.

The second act, ‘The Heart Beat’, captures the construction of the tower in a dynamic lightshow. The third act, ‘From Dubai and the UAE to the World’, used sky tracers and space canons envelop the tower in a strong halo of white light before reproducing the sunbeams of the Emaar corporate logo. The finale to this spectacular ceremony illuminated the night sky and the Burj Dubai with 10,000 fireworks fired on and from the building, giving the evening’s revellers a memorable close to the inauguration of this iconic tower.