(Newser)
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The Burj Khalifa Bin Zayed, the tallest building in the world, opened today with an extravagant ceremony involving 10,000 fireworks. The 2,717-foot, 160-story tower—originally the Burj Dubai, and renamed in honor of the president of the UAE—is expected to boost revenue for developer Emaar Properties by $1 billion in the first quarter of 2010.
"Crises come and go," Emaar's chairman proclaimed optimistically at the opening ceremony. But in the face of a larger real-estate slump and sovereign debt issues, it's unclear whether one tower, no matter how tall, can repair Dubai's reputation as a economic leader in the Arab world, the Wall Street Journal reports.
