SPEAKER_02 0:06

Broadcasting from Park Avenue in New York City. Brought to you by Global Wealth Office at Nest Seekers International and Classique Modern. This is Peace and Good Wealth. Welcome back to Peace and Good Wealth, a podcast at the intersection of culture, capital, and consciousness. I am your host, Loy Carlos, and today I'm joined by someone I deeply respect, not just as a partner in business, but as fellow architect of legacy. Mungi Adlan is a chairman of Castilian Estates, a powerhouse in golfist real estate. and now the managing partner of Global Wealth Office Dubai, where together we are redefining how global capital engages with the Middle East. Our partnership was never simply about launching a Dubai office. It was about building a platform, one that understands the nuance of discretion, the gravity of generational planning, and the power of real estate as influence in a region undergoing unprecedented transformation from skyscrapers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi to the ambitious visions of Saudi Arabia. Today, we'll discuss why the Gulf has become the new frontier for serious wealth strategy and why now is the moment to act. Welcome, Munji.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Thank you, Carlos. It's great to see you today. And, you know, it looks very bright over there. It's almost the evening out here, 7 p.m. in Dubai. But, you know, we're always happy to engage and add value to our audience and the Let's go.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Right. So let's start from the beginning because I think most of... Let's work our way backwards. Dubai has been leading in the building and development in the Middle East. I think everybody knows that. It has been transforming... that part of the Emirates ever since the early 2000s, bringing in more tourism. But now it's not just tourism that it offers, right? It is now becoming a powerhouse in other industries and technologies as well and attracting people from all over the world. How diversified, before in the early 2000s, there's very few people that came in as investors in Dubai, and they're usually the Western people who had some business there. But it's very diversified now. We've got people coming in from Europe, coming in from Asia. How has that transformation changed the way Dubai's market is?

SPEAKER_00 2:47

Well, that's a great question, Lloyd, because we always go back and look at history and how far this nation has transformed. the global landscape. Today, fast forward today, 2025, Dubai is a brand. It cannot be considered as just a city. It's a global brand that sells itself. And, you know, I've been traveling around the world and whoever I meet and they ask me, where do you live? And I say, I live in Dubai. Oh, wow. It's become the wow factor that, to every regular person that I've met. Not yet talking about the elites or the ultra wealthy because they know the weight of Dubai and what it offers. But if we historically, this nation before 1971, which is the union of the seven Emirates, Dubai, Sharjah, et cetera, They were, you know, they were traders. And they dive in the Arabian Gulf. For pearls. Yeah, for pearls, right? And then fast forward 1971, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, the founder of the United Arab Emirates, he went to all these seven tribes. So seven emirates, every emirate was run by a separate tribe. So he went to the leaders of those tribes and he told them, alone, we are weak. But if we unite, that's how United Arab Emirates was formed, we become very, very strong. And that was the time when they discovered oil. Entire structure of this country, after they discovered oil, they heavily invested in themselves. And And believe it or not, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, which is, well, he passed away now, may God bless his soul. He was genius and he was illiterate. He was not able to read and write. But he had a vision to put everybody together and he did it. And he invested heavily in infrastructure and education. So all the income that they generated from oil he managed to send UAE nationals abroad to study in the global top universities so they can bring that power, the knowledge they gave down to the country. And he kept investing in infrastructure. And every Emirates, until they have their own rules and regulations and how the Emirates is run, Abu Dhabi is the capital today and it's recently last year it got the name of capital of capital. Abu Dhabi is the wealthiest city in the globe today. Dubai has always emerged faster than any other Emirates because their vision was we need to create a place where everyone from anywhere in the world should come and work and live here. And the ruler of Dubai, which is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the current ruler, he always had the vision of becoming number one. I remember I've seen an interview for him in the early 80s, and he was interviewed by a British TV, and he was asked, what do you wanna become? And he said, I want to become number one. Number one in education, number one in healthcare, number one in lifestyle. And he said, how are you going to do that? Why? Why do you want to become number one? And his answer was very simple. Why not?

SPEAKER_02 7:01

Right. Well, what's interesting is, you know, I think we had this conversation before where when I was trying to make a decision on where I would like to be and where I want my business to be, The question that I asked everybody who tried to pitch me to go and work and partner with them was, well, where's the road to number one? And I think people are thinking that that's a bad thing. It's overly ambitious to try to be number one. But the reality is, is that without the vision to be number one, you won't see the obstacles. You won't see the opportunities because all you're doing is sort of like plodding along. But when you have a direction, then it makes a big difference. I also... I'm blanking out on its name, but one of the heads of the banks in Dubai also brought up a very good point about turning from trade-based industry into manufacturing industry and beyond. It had to do with the Pearl. And they're saying that when they... they were digging, when they were diving for pearls, it was a great business. But then the Japanese came, And artificial pearls now were being produced, and then the value of pearl went down. And that technology really brought down their industry. Now, when they discovered petroleum, and it's become the industry of the GCC region, one thing they've never forgotten is how industry... had brought down, if you rely on only one thing, you are vulnerable. And therefore the first thing that they wanted to do the moment the petroleum industry exploded is to try to diversify, knowing full well that things may change and therefore you have to be everywhere and on top of everything and not just one thing and not reliant on one thing. And they've been doing, I think we've seen the last, because they have a 10-year goal, we're seeing the acceleration of it. But what I think a lot of people in the world don't know is that they've been trying to do this from the, beginning of the discovery of petroleum, et cetera. Now, in terms of real estate, how has the landscape of real estate changed? I know that in the last 20 years, Dubai has rapidly changed in terms of real estate, having sort of like toured the different areas. Dubai is divided into how many different neighborhoods at the moment? Or what are the neighborhoods that people... There's Business Bay, right? And there's De Palme. Where is development in Dubai really concentrated at the moment?

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Great question, Loy. So real estate has reshaped the existence of Dubai. And I'll tap into that later in our conversation. But everything was based on the agility of the leaders and how fast they can really... reform the policy and make it a welcoming place to international investors. To answer your question, Dubai is divided into four zones. So we have the waterfront zones, the waterfront area, and that's Palm Jumeirah, Amhar Beachfront, Jumeirah Bay, and so on across the coastal line. The second zone is the downtown of Dubai, where the Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world, and the Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world. And then you've got the DIFC, Dubai International Financial Center. This is also considered one zone. And you have the desert living, and where we call it today Dubai Land, where most of the... Mega development is happening. So currently there are cities being built in Dubai land. Massive development where developers are building villas and townhomes and apartment buildings. And then we have the fourth zone, which is the Dubai South. And Dubai South is divided into two. You have the new airport area, which is currently under construction. It's going to be the largest airport in the world with the current investment of over $40 billion. The airport will consist of over 400 terminals to accommodate more than 300 million travelers annually. And you have the Dubai Expo City. It's also considered part of Dubai South. The Expo City was the home of Dubai Expo 2020, which happened in 2021 due to the pandemic. It was a very successful expo. And that itself is a global city. It's going to host the largest trade center in the world as well. And down the road from Dubai Expo City, we have Dubai Industrial Zone. Mm-hmm. where it's going to be a home for the largest and the most sophisticated industries around the world. So the city is emerging super, super fast with mega development across the city. I think there will be enough business for contractors and builders for the next 30 years. So

SPEAKER_02 13:08

what's striking, I think what you were saying is, Of the zones that you talked about, only one of them seems to be simply tourism-based. I would assume that obviously the coastal communities are prime for tourism, hospitality, etc. But if there are technology and industrial cities that are being built, you know, then it also means that they are anticipating other industries coming in. And the Crown Prince has been a leader, I think, in transforming the thinking of trying to bring in artificial intelligence and science and technology, environmental conservation into Dubai. And, you know, with the... with the intent of being a leader in those industries, are we seeing... industries from different places in Europe and Asia beginning to sprout and not just a financial, because finance is easy, wherever the money is, that's where they sprout, right? But actually manufacturing industries, schools, education and all of that stuff, when they begin in a region, then it becomes a full-blown part of culture in the country. Is that where we're headed in Dubai,

SPEAKER_00 14:41

you think? I think Dubai is probably 10 million years ahead of everybody globally. We've seen the sound of the artificial intelligence coming up recently in the past probably one and a half year, where the global market has understood that there is a technology called artificial intelligence and it could be utilized into businesses. Believe it or not, in 2016, Dubai has established the first ministry of artificial intelligence before everybody was looking into artificial

SPEAKER_01 15:26

intelligence.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

And they were far ahead of everybody else of trying to understand how to regulate AI. and what sort of industries they could really tap into utilizing the power of AI. And they were one of the first countries, or I would say the first country to implement artificial intelligence in predictive maintenance in telecom companies. So they use the data of why the BTC towers fails And they use artificial intelligence to predict if a similar symptoms are happening. So they would go on and maintain the tower before it goes totally offline. And that has saved the telecom industry here billions of dollars because you don't run out of business or your service doesn't cut out because of a failure in a tower or two. and utilize that industry as well to understand the customer charm. Why would a customer of a specific telecom provider would decide to leave that provider and go to the other competitor? And they've implemented that and the AI works competitively to understand certain patterns and then advise the marketing and the sales and the retention team of what offers they need to provide to their clients.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

So why do you think the vision, one would think that the leaders, the Western world, specifically the United States, do we have that? I mean, I would assume that we have some sort of a function of that now, but I think the UAE, Dubai in particular, are much more nimble in getting to it, getting to the bottom of things. Is it capital? Or is it the less bureaucracy or a combination of both?

SPEAKER_00 17:34

Believe it or not, Dubai is not reliant on capital. Capital comes anyway. Capital is invited here. And now capitalists understand that their growth rate is much faster being in Dubai than anywhere in the world. But just to give you a bit of understanding, the rulers are royals. So this country is run by a royal system. That means the decision is done in the house by the royal house. So less bureaucracy, that's 100%. And part of the initiative that the Royal Office is continuously and proactively developing is reduce government bureaucracies. In Dubai, we don't really need to visit the government office. Everything is digital. We have an app for everything. You want to give someone power of attorney, you would do it over Zoom. And within 30 minutes, you have the power of attorney in your email. You don't have to visit any lawyer. You don't have to go to any public notary office. Everything comes to you. The government, the vision was, look, it's very easy to become number one. And probably this is quite common for us and has become normal. The biggest building in the world, the tallest residential tower in the world, the longest driver, less metro in the world. So the vision behind that is it was very easy to become number one. but the toughest part is to remain number

SPEAKER_02 19:10

one. Number one, yeah, always. Because there's only one direction, which is down, right? When you're at the top, there's only one direction. So maintaining that number one status is the most difficult part. But when we talk about Dubai, I don't want to discount the other Emirates as well, Abu Dhabi in particular. But to me, it's sort of akin to when you go out of the US and somebody asks you where you're from, You don't say America, you say New York, you say California, et cetera. And Dubai is that for the UAE. I think most people can name maybe two or three of the Emirates, Sharjah in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and then sort of like trail off with the rest. But people also who have not been to Dubai should understand that the culture is very rich. in the UAE. And it's very well preserved. The things that we see on TikTok and Instagram is only a snippet of what the UAE really offers. Yes, they offer five-star hospitality. They offer five-star restaurant services, first-class services. support for businesses and industries but it's also a country very rich in culture and driving and Abu Dhabi for instance is significantly in context and texture different from what Dubai is. And for a reason, they would like to maintain the integrity of the different Emirates, right? So talk to us a little bit about Abu Dhabi. What's happening in Abu Dhabi these days?

SPEAKER_00 21:03

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, just like Washington DC in America. That's where the federal decisions are being taken for the benefit of the nations and the benefit of the business. and the growth of the country. But Abu Dhabi is positioning itself as completely different than Dubai. I'll give you some of the culture that Abu Dhabi is representing. First, today, Abu Dhabi is the capital of capital due to the largest investment they make globally and also the largest investment hub where foreign investors move their family offices, their hedge funds to Abu Dhabi. They created a free zone called Abu Dhabi Global Market, where most of the largest hedge funds around the world opened an office there. And some of the largest family offices moved to Abu Dhabi due to the resilience of policy and some other benefits such as zero income tax. So individuals in the UAE enjoy zero income tax when they establish their residency or tax residency in the UAE. And it's unmatched infrastructure and safety, state of art healthcare and governance and ultra modern transport and low crime levels. Abu Dhabi is also positioning itself as a cultural hub So you have Guggenheim Museum is currently being built in Abu Dhabi. You have the Sheikh Zayed Museum, the first university of artificial intelligence is in Abu Dhabi. You have currently Disney announced an investment in Abu Dhabi, but before Disney, you have Warner Brothers, they established a large cultural hub in the UAE. You have multiple other investments that's positioning Abu Dhabi as a super capital in the world. And believe it or not, the United Nations has recorded globally over about 196 nations. In the UAE, there are over 200 and seven nationalities living in Dubai or in the UAE. So they have beaten what the United Nations have recorded internationally.

SPEAKER_02 23:43

I think this is going to be a twofold question. One is that there are obviously multiple opportunities to live in and invest and work in the UAE. Why is it important to work with people like us? Not to pat ourselves on the shoulder, but we perform a particular service. Why can't somebody just, well, I'm going to go to Dubai and I'm going to shop for villas and mansions, et cetera. What is the benefit of the type of wealth advisory and asset advisory and acquisition and structuring that we offer to someone who is coming into Dubai who presumably doesn't have any other ties to it until that moment?

SPEAKER_00 24:44

I think the most important element to family offices or ultra high net worth individuals is privacy. And when you talk about billionaires' migrations, there is a report from United Bank of Switzerland about billionaire migrations globally. UAE last year welcomed over 6,700 millionaires. And this year, we are welcoming over 9,800 millionaires. And some of the key figures globally, they started moving to Dubai. I'll give you a few names, the well-known names. In the world, you have John Fredrickson, a Norwegian shipping oil magnate with an estimated net worth of about 17 billion. He recently relocated to Dubai from London. He moved his business. He sold his estate in the UK for 380 million pounds and moved everything, moved his family, his business, everything moved to Dubai. And all that wealth came about. You have Michael Pat, Britain's richest hedge fund manager, Blue Crest Capital, with around 18.8 billion in net worth. He moved to Dubai. You have Sharvin Bharti Mittal. He runs the Bharti business empire and his personal net worth of about 13.8 billion, and his family net worth is about 27.2 billion. They moved to Dubai. So those type of names, when they want to make that move, they like discretion. They don't buy things that are available in the market. They like things that are market. They have a certain lifestyle. They have certain structure that they prefer, and they don't want the rest of the world to know about it. Not simply go online or they wouldn't go online themselves, but their assistants or their managers go online and shop for assets for them. Everything comes through referrals, through a trusted network. And this is where we come in. This is where we come in. We offer totally off markets, super luxury assets. We know how to structure those assets. Obviously, no billionaire holds any asset under their name directly. So they have structure. You have a foundation, you have a trust, you have a holding company. And when they are moving to Dubai, which is a new jurisdiction for them, different laws, different ecosystem, they would still want to protect their names, their legacy, and they would not want to work with a regular broker. They want someone to understand their needs and exactly what they want.

SPEAKER_02 27:53

They don't have time. Yeah, and also I think they want to work with people who have proven, not only just proven business and success, but also proven discretion in which we talk about it. These are not... These types of people are not the ones where, you know, I wag my hands on Instagram and then all of a sudden they're buying this particular. But I think what most people don't understand, especially in the Middle East, especially these types of people all over the world, is that the value that they place in something that's exclusive and nobody else knows about is paramount to them. That the more people see or have access to certain properties, the less likely they'll be intrigued or more interested in them. And that we also get them not just in talking about real estate, but talking about sales of yachts, of fine art, of all of this, being in front of them wherever they are in the world. And this is where these conversations happen, where somebody will tell us, I am selling my estate for $300 million if you have somebody. And it's not like we would go take pictures of them, do a video and put it on the internet. It's not that kind of service. It's a very exclusive elite service. And you can only do that when you have the proven reputation for doing so. And you have the proven global outreach, you know, not some affiliate or franchise or network of networks, et cetera, where you're referring it to somebody you don't know. These direct, I think, relationships, like between us, you know, in Dubai, you know, Global World Dubai, Global Maritima, Global World St. Moritz, this is where these people are. And it's important to know the sensibilities, to know their predisposition, to know their level of discretion that they command. And also, Time is always theirs. You know, it's not like you can't hurry them up in making a decision. And when they decide they want it now, you know, so it's a very, you know, so their idea of decision-making and the process of decision-making is not a normal person's idea. But also we talked about, because I asked you why there's like a development like Damak, do a you know like a this is venice type this is milan type this is rome this is paris etc right when and the question i asked you was like when people can just go to venice if they wanted to go see venice or milan or and you told me something very interesting which is that we forget that not everybody in the world can go to places like that it's not as easy for them And so coming to something close like that in the Middle East, in Dubai, in the region where they are, or closer to where they are, is just as good. So living in a Venetian type villa versus living in Venice, they're two different things. Right? Yeah. And, and, and, you know, it's, it's almost like, you know, all of these different cultures from around the world finding, um, because I think in the beginning, I think prior to Dubai, you know, doing this development, um, you know, you know, the, and Qatar doing developments and Saudi doing developments, the, the, the most of the world probably thought about living in the Middle East as a function of, um, either living in the, in, in the region for, petroleum or petroleum-based industries or development as an overseas worker. Or the other one is the people who want to be near Jeddah or in Saudi Arabia to do some pilgrimages, right? The other parts like tourism and living there as a part of a lifestyle, is a game changer for the Middle East. Now, everybody's competing to be the next Monaco of the Middle East. Now, what's going on with Saudi? Just briefly, it's a much, much, much larger market that's going to explode. And they also have... What should we... What should we be looking at as Saudi continues its growth and development as well?

SPEAKER_00 32:46

Saudi, interestingly, has been reformed recently since the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Salman, came to run the country. And he had one vision. We have to transform. We have to catch up. And what he has introduced, first thing he introduced, he allowed women to drive. Women were not allowed to drive before that. So he has launched a cultural revolution change. He is trying to reform the mindset first by accepting certain things are the full rights of human beings, And then they moved into investment. Saudi Arabia today is one of the largest country that is super, super developing mega projects in the region or in the world as well. And they have launched an entertainment events so they can welcome people from the globe to come and visit Saudi, explore Saudi, right? And they were also very consistent and careful about in opening up everything. Because Saudi Arabia is the home for the most holy place for Muslims, which is Mecca and the Kaaba. And that religious connection is not as easy as it looks like to open up to the globe and do certain things differently. Recently, just two weeks ago, the real estate regulations in Saudi Arabia has changed, where they allow non-Saudis or foreign nationals to own piece of real estate across certain zones. And that it could be the capital of Riyadh or Jeddah. Mecca is a holy place, so it's only for Saudi for now. I don't think that will change at all. But the rest of Saudi Arabia is reforming. Branded residents, they are big in Saudi Arabia. So we have the Trump Tower being built in Jeddah. The Four Seasons and other global brands are positioning themselves in Saudi Arabia. They are doing their best to become a global hub as well. But The road is still a bit long, but that's also an opportunity because this is an emerging market. So for investments as well, Saudi Arabia would be one of the most attractive destinations to invest in if you're looking to invest in the Middle East after, obviously, the United Arab Emirates and Dubai.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

I think that's the GCC region, I think, What is the most impressive to me is the longer you get to know them, the longer you get to know two things about them. One is that there is a genuine desire to be positive about the future and to create a legacy for the future. because of the history, because of where they've come from, there is a commitment and a dedication to ensure that from generations, future generations, have something to inherit, a rich history and culture and country to inherit. I think that's one thing. The second thing is that trust is something that you earn, right? You know, it's not a given. But once you've earned the trust, the positive things, you know, can come out of that, you know, that relationship. Now, to cap everything off, I just wanted, you know, because when you come here in New York, we're going to do like a personal, you know, podcast back in the CEO, in the office, but now in person. Now, but where, tell us, To wrap it up, where does global wealth Dubai powered by Castilian estates? What should we look forward to? What is the next step for us? We wanted to do a roadshow and it's a lot of it is education. But how do people get to us? How do people get to you if they're in Dubai, etc.?

UNKNOWN 0:00

?

SPEAKER_00 37:39

Great. Global Wealth Dubai, I think it's positioned perfectly where the global capital is moving to the UAE. And when such plans happen, they need people on the ground to execute before the arrival of those elite. And global wealth is positioned today globally, not only in the US or or in the UAE to service specific people with a specific need. I think the global network of Global Wealth Office itself, it's a gateway to help that transition happen seamlessly. Global Wealth Office Dubai today has access to ultra, ultra luxury real estate that are not in the market, are not even being marketed by the developer. We have few assets that are already built. We have few assets that are currently under construction and it's not in the internet. You can't find it in the internet. You need an invitation. It's literally by invitation, although you have to submit the buyer's profile and that profile has to be approved, then you are welcome to see what these development has to

SPEAKER_01 39:06

offer.

SPEAKER_00 39:08

And we provide that service seamlessly because we hold great relationship with those top developers that are completely silent and off market and they don't market to anyone. And most of our clients today, they come through referrals, they come through law firms, they come through wealth managers. We play in the same domain, we just provide a different service to those clientele. And we are also planning a roadshow in New York in September, where we are going to educate a lot of people about how they can access Dubai directly from New York, from Global Office New York City. without the need to travel to Dubai. We could provide that seamless transaction and you don't need a lawyer in Dubai to buy a property. Everything is supervised and governed by the government of Dubai and the Dubai Land Department. that you don't need an attorney to pay them thousands and thousands of dollars to draft the contract or to manage your escrow or transfer your funds. Everything is done through the legal challenge, through the legal channels, which is the supervisory of the transaction is the Dubai government itself. You don't need a guarantee than that. And that's why global wealth is able to, to service those people seamlessly without even to stress out how I'm going to transfer my money, how I'm going to open a bank account down there, how I'm going to buy that property, or how I'm going to move my assets down there. We provide that service from A to Z from where they live currently.

SPEAKER_02 40:57

Right.

SPEAKER_00 40:58

And

SPEAKER_02 40:59

it's also important, I think, for them to know that we... we have multiple professionals who speak multiple different languages. whether it's, you know, Mandarin or, you know, Russian or, you know, or Arabic, you know, or Hebrew or whatever, you know, or Spanish or whatever. We have people. So if it's more comfortable for them to speak to somebody in their native language, we could provide that. And that the Global Wealth Office, our goal, and you and I talked about it, is that you can call us at any point in the day, wherever you are, and somebody... will be able to help you, right? The idea is that we are one world, we are one market, and our focus is not on everybody because it's impossible to provide services to everybody. But specifically for the people who desire a level of service that's very discrete in the highest quality of products and in the most efficient way process as possible. We are not just, you know, we're not salespeople. We're trustworthy advisors. And our relationships go not just... years, but decades and generations of people who have used, you know, provided that service. And on that note, thank you so much, Moonji, you know, for spending this time with me. And on behalf of Colin Migley and Kenneth Moore and Perry Law, this is Loy Carlos wishing you peace and good wealth.