Middle East is heating up, wealthy people start moving assets from Dubai to Singapore

JAKARTA - Concerns over the escalation of the Middle East conflict have led wealthy people in Asia to begin moving their funds from Dubai to Singapore as a precautionary measure against the escalation of the Middle East conflict due to the attacks by the United States (US) and Israel against Iran.

Shortly after the first Iranian missile and drone attack in Dubai last week, two Dubai-based Indian businessmen tried to transfer more than US$100,000 each from their local bank accounts to Singapore as a precaution.

"The post-war technology disruption initially thwarted the plan. Finally, it was possible to transfer through another bank based in the United Arab Emirates," one of the businessmen told the Reuters news agency.

Citing the Telegraph India, Saturday, March 7, in addition to the two entrepreneurs, dozens of other Asian wealthy people are reportedly considering or taking similar steps to move their wealth assets to regional financial centers such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

This, according to industry advisers and lawyers, has emerged because the US-Israeli war with Iran has blurred the image of the Gulf countries as a safe place for investment.

A similar thing was said by Singapore-based personal wealth lawyer Ryan Lin. He said that six or seven of his 20 Dubai-based clients had been contacting him this week, three of whom were planning to move their assets to Singapore.

"One of the clients is looking at how quickly they can move all of their assets to Singapore," Ryan said.

Although wealthy people generally diversify their investments in various regions and asset classes, the main location for storing assets remains an important consideration based on taxes, regulations, privacy, and operations.

Over the past few years, Dubai has become a popular asset storage center, especially for entrepreneurs and wealthy families from China, because there are favorable policies and the rapid development of Dubai's property and infrastructure industries.

However, the attacks on Dubai and Abu Dhabi cast doubt on the stability of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and made investors more cautious.