DMCC, the government authority on trade, enterprise and commodities in Dubai, welcomed a record-breaking 2,016 new member companies to the Dubai free zone in 2016, up 14 per cent over the previous year.

Releasing its annual report, DMCC said it had clocked an average annual growth rate of 33 per cent over the last decade.

DMCC is now home to 13,500 companies, making it the largest Free Zone in the world.
 
The figures, released today (April 12) in DMCC’s 2016 annual report, cap an outstanding year for its commodities, property and free zone portfolio, culminating in being named the world’s leading free zone for a second consecutive year by the Financial Times’ fDi magazine.
 
Other key achievements included record-breaking trading volumes of over 19.7 million contracts worth $440 billion on the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX), an increase of 36 per cent on 2015; DMCC Tradeflow recording 11,412 murabaha transactions with a total value of Dh58 billion, a value increase of 405 per cent compared to 2015; and the appointment of DMCC executive chairman Ahmed Bin Sulayem as global Kimberley Process Chair on behalf of the UAE, a major honour and recognition of Dubai’s and UAE’s leadership status within the global diamond industry.
 
Commenting on DMCC’s performance in 2016, the executive chairman, Ahmed Bin Sulayem, said: "Dubai and DMCC’s mandated goal of connecting new markets with well-established markets is clear, and in 2016 we achieved it by welcoming an average of seven new companies every working day. This brings significant foreign direct investment to Dubai."

"Dubai’s advantage of being located at the natural crossroads of the world’s major markets, both in terms of time zone and proximity, means we remain optimally positioned to facilitate global trade. But it is also the unrivalled quality of the infrastructure, the professional support and physical platforms for trade we offer that brings international business to DMCC," stated Bin Sulayem.

"As a partner of choice in the Middle East for businesses throughout the world, we take our responsibility to act in the best interests of those companies very seriously," he noted.

"Everything we do, from introducing digital services, to providing a business friendly regulatory environment, is undertaken with the intention of ensuring our member companies have everything they need to thrive," he added.-TradeArabia News Service