As head of the Middle East’s largest independent distributor, Petrochem, Metha’s response when he spoke to Arabian Business a year ago was not to panic over the severe drop that saw the price plummet by 75 percent. “We all need to relax and calm down a little bit, anticipate lower margins and a normal life,” he said, in the November 2015 interview.

“Dubai is a great city and the UAE is a land of opportunity — it made [Petrochem] what it is today. But, you know, you have to be clever and move with the times. The big mistake people are making is to remember 2008 as a big debacle that eased in six months, and presume that the problem we have now — that began in 2014 — is going to correct itself in the same way.”

Mehta came to Dubai at the age of 29 with no job, no plan and no future. “I came here on a hope and prayer. But I had lots of dreams,” he told Arabian Business in 2011.

The dream was to set up his own business — Petrochem Middle East FZE — which was established in 1995 in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone and has its own state-of-the-art storage terminal for bulk and drum chemicals.

The company grew from strength to strength, and it’s now a billion-dollar company that exports more than 700,000 metric tonnes (MT) of products worldwide, with offices in Dubai, Taiwan, Singapore, Mumbai and Shanghai.

The entrepreneurial gene has rubbed off on Mehta’s son Rohan, who is the company’s business development manager, and was able to turn his passion for music into a multi-million dollar events company. Raging Tiger Events, established in 2013, offers innovative and professionally managed event experiences to fans of South Asian entertainment.