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Multiple firms move global head offices to Dubai in 18 months

DIFC has helped position Dubai as the top city in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region

Numerous companies and family businesses have moved their global offices to Dubai over the past one-and-half years as the emirate has been a major beneficiary of new trends in the post-Covid period, a senior official said on Wednesday.

On the first day of the Capital Market Summit, on Wednesday, Helal Saeed Almarri, chairman of Dubai Financial Market, director-general of the Department of Economy and Tourism, said that the emirate decided to look inward on how to move ahead to become the easiest place to do business among others in the post-Covid era and as part of the D33 agenda. Dubai also looked at how to manage cost over a longer term to be more competitive, manage demand and supply and also assessed safety, security and tolerance aspects.

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“Today, we see the momentum of that. In the last 18 months, numerous companies decided to choose Dubai as their international hub and operate out of Dubai to the world. Some of those companies decided to leave out of their home markets for the first time. We also see many entrepreneurs and founders decided to move to Dubai or re-domiciled here,” Almarri said.

“All these trends are around the key pillar to Dubai’s D33 strategy which is to be the number one hub for talent in the world. It is critical If the best talents want to live and work here and innovate here because then chances are higher that corporate and founders all other types of companies will be successful,” he added.

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading global financial centre in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) region, said the emirate is home to more than 120 of the world’s wealthiest families and individuals, with a total net worth exceeding $1trillion. It said DIFC has helped position Dubai as the number one city in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region, and among the top 22 cities globally in terms of wealthiest populations.

Dubai has attracted professionals and the best talents from around the world in the post-Covid period, especially after the introduction of the Golden Visa. While ease of doing business regulations helped attract family businesses and new-age sector businesses to relocate to Dubai.

First in business, health tourism

“A lot of global trends Dubai has seen over the last 18 months, helped it to grow because of its competitive advantages. People think of Dubai only for leisure tourism. Dubai is also number one in business and health tourism segments. These types of sectors are going very fast, too,” he said.

During the Fireside Chat, he said the emirate has the right watchdog, systems, and regulations and this has resulted in a number of IPOs from public and private sector companies. “Dubai houses companies from the wider region. There are over 25K African countries. Those companies have grown over the years. Today people and capital are looking at regional emerging markets,” he added.

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