With iconic projects that attracted international celebrities such as Donald Trump and David Beckham, the Dubai-based real estate developer Nakheel has always played an important role in fulfilling Dubai’s ambitious dreams. Its Palm trilogy — Palm Deira, Palm Jumeirah and Palm Jebel Ali — has become a firm feature on Dubai’s map and is now symbolic of the emirate, not to mention the developer’s other distinguished projects such as The World and Discovery Gardens. Nakheel was established in 2001 as the real estate arm of the state-owned holding company Dubai World. Its operations include real estate development, management, sales and fund management. Until the last quarter of 2008, the company surpassed expectations; launches of large scale projects were coupled with sky-high profits due to land sales and continual hikes in property prices. Nakheel’s biggest achievements in 2008 were finishing the land reclamation of The World, officially opening Palm Jumeirah
