Dubai World made headlines in March 2008 after its chairman, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, threatened to take the fund's money out of Europe.

[1] Dubai World's threats came shortly after the European Union attempted to lay out "a set of principles for transparency, predictability and accountability" for sovereign wealth funds.

Dubai World, the investment vehicle for the emirate, asked to delay for six months payment on $26 billion of debt.

On 12 December 2010, Dubai named Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, head of Emirates airline and uncle of the state's ruler, as chairman of Dubai World[7] in a board revamp a year after the company said it would halt loan repayments, roiling markets.

[8] On 29 January 2013, Drydocks World signed a memorandum of understanding for a US$2.5 billion joint venture partnership with Indonesia to develop a maritime cluster in the Asian country that would serve, among others, the petrochemicals industry.

[16] Concerns over the fallout from Dubai's debt problems contributed to the main European stock indexes falling over 3% on 26 November.

"For now, the market is taking the view that the Dubai debt issue may be a storm rather than a hurricane," said Jane Foley, a research director at Forex.com in London.

[22] An unnamed senior official told news agencies on 28 November that Abu Dhabi, the wealthy capital of the United Arab Emirates, would "pick and choose" how to assist Dubai World.

"We will look at Dubai's commitments and approach them on a case-by-case basis," the official told the Reuters news agency by telephone, adding: "It does not mean that Abu Dhabi will underwrite all of their debts."

Meanwhile, India's central bank governor said an assessment of the impact of Dubai's debt problems was needed before deciding on a response.