ABU DHABI // If the prospect of visiting the dentist brings out the beast in your child, Emirates Park Zoo may be the unlikely source of the perfect solution.
The Kids Park Dental Centre, which recently opened at the zoo, is designed to distract and amuse children as their gums are poked and teeth scraped clean.
“I want the child to feel comfortable in this place,” said Faisal Al Nuaimi, the zoo’s co-owner and deputy chairman. “I’m taking my kids not to a clinic, I’m taking my kids to the zoo and then the games, and they can relax and be happy.”
The clinic at the family-owned animal park in Shahama offers six colourfully decorated rooms.
Each features a large, animatronic blue cat in yellow overalls standing over the dentist’s chair, which is in the shape of a green crocodile.
As the child lies on the crocodile’s cushioned yellow back, they can watch a Disney cartoons on a television screen.
The walls of each room are decorated in keeping with a specific theme: aviation, the desert, lions, the jungle and an aquarium. The clinic also treats adults.
It is managed by Burjeel Hospital and employs two dentists and support staff.
Dental manager Dr George Samir said the cartoonish atmosphere of the place, which overlooks the zoo’s Fun Games arcade centre, puts the young patients at ease.
“Children are more relaxed. They see us differently,” he said. “They can come and spend the day here and have their treatment also.”
The dental practice is one of a number of business areas into which the zoo has diversified.
In January, a veterinary clinic opened on the site, and there is a dry-cleaner catering mainly to patrons of the Emirates Park Resort.
The resort has 27 chalet-style rooms, with the deluxe lodgings looking over an outdoor enclosure populated by giraffes, zebras and gazelles.
At weekends, rooms cost from about Dh699 a night for a standard room to Dh899 for a deluxe room with a view of the zoo. Hotel guests get free access to the zoo.
“Weekends are booked months in advance,” said Saeed Al Amin, the duty manager. Most of the guests are Emiratis or UAE residents, he added, and last year the zoo welcomed 500,000 visitors.
Mr Al Nuaimi said another 72 hotel rooms were being added and should be ready by the summer. There will also be two pools, one for children, one for adults.
A heritage village-style area, with souq tents and an exclosure for up to 30 camels, is also being built and is due to open in the next two months, he said.
Other plans include the first butterfly sanctuary in the Middle East, which is expected to open this year.
The owners are also exploring the possibility of opening a water park and indoor ski slope on the site, which used to be the Al Nuaimi family farm.
rpennington@thenational.ae
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Fund-raising tips for start-ups
Develop an innovative business concept
Have the ability to differentiate yourself from competitors
Put in place a business continuity plan after Covid-19
Prepare for the worst-case scenario (further lockdowns, long wait for a vaccine, etc.)
Have enough cash to stay afloat for the next 12 to 18 months
Be creative and innovative to reduce expenses
Be prepared to use Covid-19 as an opportunity for your business
* Tips from Jassim Al Marzooqi and Walid Hanna
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
Company info
Company name: Entrupy
Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist
Based: New York, New York
Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.
Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius.
Total customers: Entrupy’s customers include hundreds of secondary resellers, marketplaces and other retail organisations around the world. They are also testing with shipping companies as well as customs agencies to stop fake items from reaching the market in the first place.
Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Profile of Tamatem
Date started: March 2013
Founder: Hussam Hammo
Based: Amman, Jordan
Employees: 55
Funding: $6m
Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
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