In 1985, Jabal Ali Free Zone hosted sixteen companies. After it lifted foreign ownership restrictions, out of 720 companies in 1995, only 25 per cent were Emirati.103 By 2019, it boasted of accommodating more than 7,000 firms. Foreign businesses, polled about why they preferred operating in the zone, cited ‘political stability’ as their foremost reason. ‘Political stability’ is of course a euphemism for governance predicated on a docile and policed population and deportable labour. Access to telecommunications, transport and banking services, and the absence of taxes also ranked high on the list.104