'The UAE is very open ... it's very okay to live here'

Date

10/3/2015 5:04:14 AM

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

For Turkmenistan national Dovlet Hojayev 27 Dubai is the place to be. A professional web programer and IT specialist Hojayev says the UAE offered him an excellent opportunity to work and grow.

"I've been here almost five years. I was a fresh graduate and I was looking for a place which is in demand" he said. "When I first came (for a visit) in 2007 I was like a tourist. When I saw everything I realised it was very developed when compared to some CIS countries. And when I saw there was really no online shops ... I thought this is the place I should come."

Now five years after moving to Dubai Dovlet runs BetterWeba small but successful web development firm.

"There are four of us now all from the CIS" he said. "What I like is that everyone has his own thing and they are brilliant at that. I think a developer in the CIS can earn about $1000 a month maximum. Here he can earn more."

Although he says he now feels "very comfortable" living in the UAE Dovlet noted that there are a few things he misses from Turkmenistan.

"The weather that's number one. Number two trees. Watermelons is number three" he said. "You can find everything here but some of them are too expensive and some of them are not sweet."

Additionally Dovlet said that in cosmopolitan Dubai he is never far from fellow Turkmen despite the country's small population of just over five million.

"There is a community (of Turkmen)" he said. "We have a lot of successful people working here. We aren't too many as a nation ... you won't hear Turkmen everywhere but sometimes you meet and then you know one more Turkmen."

"I think when the USSR crashed a lot of people with money came here to invest in the UAE's development of new properties and so on" he added. "Then they started to pull people in from the CIS. It's much easier to understand each other. The mentality is the same."

As an example Dovlet noted that he has encouraged several of friends to come to the UAE.

"When I came I helped two or three of my friends to come here. I told them to get their diploma and I'd help them" he said. "The UAE is very open. I don't think that any Russian for example would feel out of place here it's very okay to live here."

"I feel very comfortable here. Maybe I got used to it in the last five years" he added. People are very helpful ... I see a lot of opportunities. I think I'll stay here."

Interviewed by Bernd Debusmann Jr.

Street Talk is a weekly column to get a glimpse of people's lives in UAE

Bernd Debusmann Jr. Originally from Mexico City I've been in Dubai since January 2015. Before arriving in in the UAE I worked as a general news reporter in TV and print in Mexico City NYC and Washington DC. I'm interested in defence issues politics technology aviation and history. In my spare time i enjoy traveling and football - I'm a keen fan of Chelsea FC. I developed an interest in the Middle East traveling through Jordan and the West Bank. I have a BA in Political Science from Dickinson College in the USA and an MA in International Journalism from City University London.

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