Dubai's ruler issued a decree on Tuesday to help state-owned Dubai Aluminium Company Ltd (Dubal) become more competitive by being able to engage in investments outside the country and issue bonds. 

In the decree, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum also renamed the company Dubai Aluminium Corporation and gave it a  formally constituted board. It will remain a state-owned firm and still come under the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the emirate's sovereign wealth arm, a company spokesman told Reuters.

"Under the old decree, Dubal was not allowed to have investments outside the UAE or issue bonds, but now it can," the spokesman said.

"Investment can be in the Middle East or elsewhere, at this point there are talks going on and it's too early to say anything."     

Asked if Dubal planned to issue bonds this year, the spokesman said there was no current requirement. "There is no need at the moment, but it s a good tool to have available."

In March, it was reported that Abu Dhabi investment vehicle Mubadala, which jointly owns Emirates Aluminium with Dubal, had offered to buy a stake in Dubal.

Dubal, one of Dubai's profitable assets, is currently valued at $7 billion, its vice chairman Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer was quoted by local media as saying in March. Its net profit for 2010 more than doubled to 2.13 billion dirhams ($580 million).

Dubal has $625 million in loans maturing in 2012 according to Thomson Reuters data. The company has $150 million due on July 4, and the remainder on July 28. The facilities were all project finance related loans. - Reuters