Long before the Airbus A380 was conceived, and nearly 32 years before the super-Jumbo made its maiden flight last week, the first fare-paying passengers boarded the sleeker, supersonic Concorde at Heathrow. Recollection that it was Bahrain, rather than New York, Cape Town or Mos-cow, that won the honour of being Concorde’s first commercial destination is testament to the longstanding trading links between London and the Gulf States. But it is a reminder of how much has changed, as well as how much has stayed the same, over the last three decades.

Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, would probably be Concorde’s Gulf destination if it were flying today. Bahrain retains sound financial market credentials, especially as a centre for Sharia-compliant Islamic banking. Those that strut the global financial and commercial stage know about nearby Abu Dhabi, and Qatar’s Doha – for which the current round of world trade talks was named. But Dubai enjoys regional financial leadership. And while rival Gulf cities could retake the laurels, and Bombay has regional aspirations, Dubai stands a real chance of becoming the foremost marketplace between the Tokyo and London time zones.

With a barrel of oil changing hands for $90 plus, the Sultans and Emirs have never had it so good. Nor have they had more need to put their multi-billion-dollar treasure to good use. Rulers are aware that the wealth is spread unevenly and that a generous helping of middle class aspiration and job creation can cool the hotbeds of ex-tremism. The absence of terror in the Gulf’s Westernised oases is critical to their success.

The terms of commercial engagement, as well as the locus of financial power, have shifted. In the 1970s black gold was looking for a home away from home. Before, desert petrodollars went in search of US and European investment. Now the wealth is being used to build a sustainable and wealthy home at home. Where oil wealth is being transferred away from the region, there is palpable change in the expectations of the owners. Before, the sheikhs would have been content as sleeping partners. Now the oil barons are awake, and keen to exert active control over what is theirs. They are also using experience to bolster domestic economic prospects by making the region more global in orientation.

No one should doubt Dubai’s determination. One only needs to witness the frenetic construction activity in and around the desert city, or the enthusiasm of Borse Dubai, the fledgling stock exchange, to cut deals with the London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq of the US, and OMX of Sweden. Dubai is building an intercontinental transport hub; it is creating tourist and leisure industries; and it is grabbing what it can of the world’s most alluring growth industry: financial services.

Dubai has another incentive to succeed in what may be a winner-takes-all game to become the Gulf’s financial capital. Unlike Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, it has scant reserves of oil and gas. To be assured of success, it must be financially clean, and accept principles of accountability, transparency and regulatory rigour. Its development in the past decade has been extraordinary and proves that the Middle East is not, by definition, a basket case. To continue to be a model for the region and the world, it must continue to invest in integrity.