Dubai World Central (DWC) aims to support Dubai's aviation, tourism, commercial and logistics requirements until 2050, a top official said.

Explaining the concept behind the project, Dubai City of Aviation Corporation – Dubai World Central chairman and Emirates Group chairman Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum revealed this to The Report: Dubai 2008, the latest edition of the business guide to be published by Oxford Business Group (OBG), top publishing, research and consultancy firm.

Shaikh Ahmed said: “The main reason behind building Dubai World Central which is centred around what will eventually be the world’s largest airport - Al Maktoum International – is to support Dubai's infrastructure requirements until 2050. The expansion of Dubai International Airport will still only facilitate 75 million passengers and in a few years when this airport reaches its maximum capacity we will need to accommodate more. We have named the airport Al Maktoum International to ensure that people realise there is still a connection with this city.

“When you look at Dubai and what has happened in the past five years, the amount of growth and the launch of large projects launched, the city needs and will need a lot of infrastructure and that is why we are focusing on the airports and the airlines to account for all of this growth.

“As Dubai continues to grow and expand, we also see potential not only from the GCC, but from the CIS countries and from the Indian sub-continent for people to send their children here to be educated. The schools that we have here and that are coming here have attracted a lot of people. Dubai is closer to a lot of these countries than Europe and the US.

“We always go hand in hand with the development of Dubai. We do not want to feel at any time that the city is expanding and the infrastructure is not ready.”

Looking at the synergy between Emirates Airline Group, Dubai Aerospace (DAE), and DWC, Shaikh Ahmed said: “Between Emirates and DAE there are so many things that we can do together. Emirates and DAE are talking about setting up a university and a training college for pilots. Obviously, the natural place to start any of these enterprises will be DWC.”

Rated as the premier guide for foreign direct investment into the country’s dynamic economy, The Report will offer a comprehensive and detailed assessment of Dubai’s opportunities for growth, the economic challenges which lay ahead, and the overall attractiveness of the emirate for investors.
The Report: Dubai 2008, with an international distribution of 76,000, is a complex guide to the many facets of Dubai, including its macroeconomics, infrastructure, political landscape, banking and sectoral developments.

Its subscribers are 33 per cent in Europe, 25pc in North America, 17pc in Asia, 14pc in GCC countries and 11pc in North Africa and the Levant. Twenty-six pc are financial institutions, 21pc in energy, 20pc in IT and telecommunications, 18pc in industry, and 9pc in real estate and construction.
The 200-page publication contains extensive, independent and accurate intelligence available and is produced by a team of OBG analysts based in Dubai for six months, who are conducting some 200 interviews with leading political and economic figures.

It is a comprehensive review of the emirate’s business and economic environment, with sector overviews and analyses supported by a series of exclusive interviews. – TradeArabia News Service