Abu Dhabi

Mohamed Alabbar, Founder and Managing Director of Emaar Properties, the developers of the iconic Burj Khalifa, said he likes to hire Indians because of their work ethic, using the remark to make a wider point about hard work, discipline and the kind of business culture that helps companies survive repeated crises.

He was speaking at the “Make it in the Emirates summit” in Abu Dhabi, another city with a prominent Indian presence.

According to the news media in the UAE, Alabbar said companies that want to grow through disruption need teams that keep moving, keep checking their work and stay close to risk when conditions change.

“I always tell people, from my own perspective, my IQ is average, but my hard work is the best,” Alabbar said. “I believe in hard work.”

He said hard work is not only about long hours but also about studying every opportunity, knowing when to take risks, bringing the right people into the business, and closely monitoring execution.

“You need to check your work. You need to study every opportunity and know where to take risks and bring people, monitor their work and keep pushing,” he said.

Alabbar then linked that view to his preference for Indian talent in his businesses.

“The harder you work, the luckier you will get,” he said. “There’s a saying, hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard, and this is why I like to hire Indians, because they answer the phone even at one o’clock in the morning.”

#WATCH | Delhi: UAE Ambassador to India, Abdulnasser Jamal Alshaali says, "... The four million Indians in the UAE are not guests. They are part of the fabric of this country. Their protection is treated with the same seriousness as the protection of the UAE nationals. The UAE… pic.twitter.com/N171dMvJAS

— ANI (@ANI) April 17, 2026

This is quite a compliment to over 4.3 to 4.39 million Indian expats living in the UAE, who form the largest expatriate community. In fact, Indians constitute about 35% to 38% of the UAE’s total population.

Also, the Indians are the biggest foreign workforce in the UAE, concentrated mainly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, playing a key role in sectors such as construction, retail, healthcare, and finance.

Indians expatriates are professionals, and labourers mainly from Kerala, followed by Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Punjab.

Indians are also among owners of some of the UAE’s biggest businesses like Vinod Adani ($20.8 Billion), M.A. Yusuff Ali ($5.8 Billion), Renuka Jagtiani, ($5.6 Billion), Joy Alukkas ($5.2 Billion), Ravi Pillai ($4.2 Billion), Sunny Varkey ($4 Billion), P.N.C. Menon ($3.9 Billion,) and Kabir Mulchandani, ($2.2 Billion).

Recently, Indian expatriate children created an emotional moment for their adopted country when, during the war between Iran and the USA-Israel, they played the country’s national anthem on Indian musical instruments.

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As it happened during a phase when Iran hit the US bases and other targets in the UAE, the music school students cheered up the people with their rendition of the anthem that went viral on social media. Even the prince