The new main road is expected to accommodate up to 7,000 vehicles per hour.

The DoT, through this project, aims to alleviate traffic congestion on the current main road connecting Abu Dhabi and Dubai (E11), and provide a new strategic link between the two most populated emirates in the country, as well as create new entrances to the city of Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi International Airport, Yas and Saadiyat Islands.

The new E311 will serve the Khalifa Port Area and the South Shamkha, Wathba and Baniyas residential areas and labour accommodations, and will be for both heavy and light vehicles.

The road will also cater to the new Khalifa Industrial Zone (KIZAD) (A) and (B) in Abu Dhabi at Taweelah as the road is being designed to accommodate up to 7,000 vehicles per hour. In addition, it will also facilitate connectivity to Al Ain as it links up with E22 (Abu Dhabi–Al Ain main road) and the rest of the main road network in Abu Dhabi emirate.

The construction of the road will be executed through two tenders. The first tender is to construct 34km with three interchanges; the second will be for the construction of 28km road and will also include three new interchanges and the modification of an existing interchange.

About 830-metre-high light columns at a gap of 300 metres will light up the road. It will provide ample lighting at night and will follow best sustainable standards, which would reduce energy consumption, be environment friendly and reduce operational cost.

For optimal road safety, the road will feature six laybys, three in each direction at 20km intervals and a rainwater drainage as well as a fencing on both sides to prevent herds of animals from crossing it.

Victoria Azarenka, however, could have counted on the enthusiastic backing from organisers of two WTA events in the Gulf.

It was a straight-forward moment for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and the Qatar Open. The winner of the Melbourne match would be the new world No 1, and Azarenka has committed to playing at Doha and Dubai; Sharapova has not.

Azarenka’s 6-3, 6-0 victory, then, was good news for marketing and sales in the Gulf. The two events can continue to promote the world No 1, simply substituting Azarenka’s name for that of the deposed Carolina Wozniacki.

At 24, Sharapova already has had an eventful career and seems to be pacing herself. She may not play again before the outdoor hard-court season commences in California in March.

Azarenka is a frisky 22, and she is due to arrive in Dubai in three weeks. The tournament at the Aviation Club expects to showcase eight of the world’s top 10, even after the shake-up at the top or the rankings yesterday.

With the men’s No 1, Novak Djokovic, expected for the men’s event the following week, Dubai will have the best of both tennis worlds.

“We are constantly looking into options to diversify our sources of long-term funding,” Malas added. “Having set up the EMTN and sukuk programmes, we can now wait for the right market conditions and choose whether to issue a sukuk or a conventional bond.

The two-tranche facility, which consists of both Shariah-compliant and conventional funding, is split between a five-year tranche and an eight-year amortizing loan and is backed by its mammoth Dubai Mall, the company said in a statement Monday.

Dubai Islamic Bank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered are providing the finance, which carries a margin of 350 basis points and will be initially used to repay an existing $300 million facility taken out in 2010, Emaar said.

“These days no one will lend without collateral,” said a real estate analyst in Abu Dhabi who did not wish to be identified. “They are getting a favorable rate as they put this asset as collateral.”

Dubai Mall, one of the world’s largest, with an indoor Olympic-sized ice skating rink and a two-story high aquarium, was the last debt-free asset which Emaar had on its books, he said.

The use of the mall was the key behind getting the deal done, a banker with knowledge of the proceedings said. “Emaar is a strong credit, and Dubai Mall is its crown jewel,” he added. “There’s so much cash coming out of it, which provides the whole rationale for the deal.”

The emirate is also pursuing other options, including raising $2bn in funds from liquid local banks, as it helps government-related entities meet their obligations, including three bonds totalling $3.8bn that mature during the course of next year.

“We are working hard to meet all our liabilities but times are different,” a senior government official said. “We are more confident we can negotiate a commercial deal with bondholders.”

Dubai was plunged into crisis almost two years ago when it shocked markets by warning it might not meet its debt obligations. It avoided a default with the help of about $20bn in loans from the United Arab Emirates and its capital, Abu Dhabi.

The government has since pursued a strategy of repaying bondholders in full while negotiating loan extensions with banks.

Dubai still faces “execution risk” in meeting debt repayments next year, despite an economic revival in trade and tourism, Moody’s, the rating agency, will say in a report to be published on Tuesday.

The report will also warn against any bond refinancing that amounts to a default, saying this would damage fragile investor confidence in Dubai. “A default would damage the ability of Dubai to fund its core activities,” David Staples, Moody’s regional corporate finance managing director, said.

The Dubai official said the government was co-ordinating plans with all state-related entities to manage what would be a “challenging” 2012. The official said Dubai’s cash-rich state-owned funds might buy distressed assets from state-related entities that need to make repayments at above-market rates in order to prevent fire sales and generate cash.

The government could also invoke a law, Decree 57, passed to help this year’s $25bn restructuring of debts at the troubled conglomerate Dubai World. The law should allow Dubai World units to restructure bonds if they receive support from two-thirds of investors.

Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group, a conglomerate owned by the ruler, has a $500m bond due in February; Dubai International Financial Centre Investments has a $1.25bn Islamic bond due in June; and the Jebel Ali Free Zone, a unit of Dubai World, has a $2bn Islamic bond due in November. Moody’s estimates that the emirate’s total debt due next year is $10bn.

Moody’s has maintained high default-risk ratings on the three companies, given Dubai’s limited financial resources and the short time frame for selling assets, many of which were bought at the peak of the boom.

Moody’s estimates the emirate’s overall debt exposure at $101.5bn, of which state-related companies account for $68.6bn.

The Dreamliner will be one of about 100 aircraft from the major aerospace manufacturers on display at the show, before an anticipated 55,000 trade visitors and 1,000 exhibitors.

In a time of global financial turbulence, aircraft makers are intensely aware that customers in the oil-rich Gulf region have ready cash available to buy their latest-generation commercial and military planes, weaponry and business aircraft.

Prince Walid bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, chief executive of Kingdom Holding, who is due to take delivery of a personalized executive version of the Airbus A380 superjumbo next year, may be an extreme example of the potential market, but he is not unique.

With government budgets in the United States and Europe under pressure, and Middle Eastern politics ever more volatile, the Dubai show is increasingly the must-go place for aviation manufacturers to showcase their hardware.

On the military side, the show will feature the French Dassault Rafale fighter and the Eurofighter Typhoon. Both are competing for an Indian Air Force order, and the Rafale has long been rumored to be the preferred choice of the United Arab Emirates Air Force for its next upgrade. If that turns out to be true, it could be the Rafale’s first export order.

On the private jet side, the region’s potential is reflected in the rise of Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi, the Gulf’s first airport dedicated exclusively to private flying.

Formerly Abu Dhabi’s commercial airport, Al Bateen has a runway 3 kilometers, or 1.9 miles, long that is capable of handling aircraft as large as the Boeing 767; a sumptuous VIP lounge that was previously the Royal Lounge; and extensive facilities in the crew lounge for overnight stops.

In the June to September quarter, aircraft movements through the airport rose 12 percent from the same period a year earlier, to 1,903, said Steve Jones, general manager of Al Bateen. The fastest growing business at the airport, up 42 percent from a year earlier, was visiting aircraft, using Al Bateen as an entry point to the United Arab Emirates, or a stopover resting place.

About 70 percent of the traffic was top-end luxury planes like the Boeing Business Jet, the executive version of the 737, used by multinational corporations or the exceptionally wealthy, Mr. Jones said.

Arabtec Holding, the country’s biggest construction company, fell the most in almost two weeks. Aldar, Abu Dhabi’s largest property developer by market value, lost 0.9 per cent.

Dubai’s benchmark index dropped 0.6 per cent, the most since October 18, to 1,408.06. The measure surged 2.6 per cent on Sunday, bringing its three-day advance to 4.6 per cent. It has lost 1.7 per cent this month.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index declined for the first time in six days, losing 0.3 per cent and bringing its drop for the month to 1.3 per cent.

“The drop is a mix of profit-taking and the correlation to international markets,” said Tariq Qaqish, the deputy head of asset management at Al Mal Capital. “Medium-term investors would see this correction as an entry opportunity.”

Emerging-market stocks fell, paring the benchmark index’s biggest monthly increase since May 2009, on signs of declining company earnings and after China’s premier vowed to maintain property lending curbs. Arabtec retreated 1.4 per cent, the most since October 18, to Dh1.38. The company said third-quarter profit amounted to Dh39.1 million. It did not give a comparative figure for the year-ago period. Bloomberg News data show the company had a profit Dh6.8m in the third quarter of last year.

Crude for December delivery dropped as much as 1.2 per cent to US$92.25 a barrel in electronic trading in New York.

Aldar slid to Dh1.06. The company will cut 105 jobs, it said.

Elsewhere, Qatar’s QE Index fell 0.3 per cent; Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All-Share Index dropped 0.1 per cent and Bahrain’s benchmark lost 0.2 per cent. Oman’s MSM30 Index gained 0.3 per cent and Kuwait’s gauge added 0.2 per cent.

Mohamed Alabbar said the real estate firm, around 30 percent owned by the Dubai government, was currently undertaking a “big financing operation” which was receiving a favourable response from lenders.

“The opportunities for financing and refinancing are excellent and likewise the prices are excellent,” Alabbar said in an interview with Dubai TV, due to be broadcast on Tuesday.

“We are at present undertaking a big financing operation … We’re talking in the region of $700 million.”

Sources told Reuters last month that Emaar was in the process of raising around $800 million through a two-tranche loan which was backed by four malls, including Dubai Mall, one of the world’s largest shopping centres.

Emaar needs to raise around 6.7 billion dirhams ($1.8 billion) between the second half of 2011 and next year, a research report from Rasmala investment bank said at the beginning of October.

Earlier, in a separate television interview, Alabbar said Emaar would not be booking any provisions in its third-quarter results.

DIC, which is owned by the ruler of Dubai, did not disclose a value for the deal.

Ishraq Dubai owns four hotels in Dubai operating under the Holiday Inn Express franchise, and Almulla, which also has interests in healthcare, real estate and banking, has a portfolio of major hotels in the emirate including the Ritz Carlton Dubai, Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel & Towers.

DIC has exited some of its investments recently. In March, it sold its 45-percent stake in valve maker KEF Holdings Inc for $178 million and in June, DIC’s Jordan Dubai Capital sold its stake in Jordan’s Central Electricity Generating Company.

DIC’s assets include UK hotel chain Travelodge, Doncasters and European aluminium maker Almatis Holdings BV.