ICT Industry
Dubai is widely recognized as Middle East’s ICT hub and the sector has
shown rapid development in the past few years.
Dubai is the most wired city in the region. The deregulated telecommunications market promises to raise service standards and drive down costs of telecom services, and Internet penetration is higher than many first world countries.
Both the public and private sectors in Dubai are early adopters of new technology. This growing adoption of new information and communication technologies continues to drive a huge demand for software and hardware products and services. With the market evolving rapidly, companies that provide ICT tools, applications and services have exceptional opportunities to grow their business.
Knowledge Industry Development
Dubai has charted an ambitious strategy to develop itself into a global hub
for knowledge economy industries, by the year 2010. The non-oil economy has
been predicted to contribute 96 per cent of GDP, out of which 25 per cent will
be contributed by the knowledge economy whilst the service sector will represent
70 per cent.
Dubai’s economic development is being directed towards three growth horizons - strengthening existing expertise in trading and logistics, applying established competencies to develop financial, media and telecom/IT sectors, and developing new competencies in high-value sectors that can make a big impact on knowledge economy development. These include R&D, education, and emerging sectors like pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, nanotech and wireless.
Economic Policy
Dubai’s government pursues a free and balanced economic policy that has
fostered an excellent international reputation, and encouraged both national
and foreign capital to invest in almost every conceivable sphere of economic
activity.
By 2010, the emirate of Dubai can be compared to a developed nation on the strength of a diversified non-oil economy with a annual GDP of US$ 30 billion and a per capita GDP of US$ 23,000, with annual GDP growth of over 6 per cent.
Business Location of Choice
Dubai’s geographical proximity to the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent
and Central Asia, combined with its easy access to Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean
make Dubai the location of choice for many businesses.
Dubai also has become the Middle Eastern hub for conferences and exhibitions, putting it at the head of the list for annual meetings. The city's international conference centre has almost 600,000 square feet of exhibition space.
Pro Business Attitude
Dubai believes that ''If it is good for business, it is good for Dubai', and
back this with sophisticated fast track business initiatives. Its robust economic
clusters, designated as 'Free Zones' and offering 100 per cent ownership including
those dedicated to technology and media, finance, logistics and healthcare.
Dubai's other advantages as a vital business location are its relatively low cost work environment, easy access to regional talent, and its competitive priced energy and real estate sectors.
The Best Regulatory Environment
The absence of Corporate Tax and Income Tax, foreign exchange controls, trade
barriers and quotas, and the lack of restrictions on capital repatriation provide
strong investor incentives and protection. Import duty is pegged as low as 4
per cent, with several exemptions, ranking it less expensive than Singapore,
Hong Kong and Bahrain.
The Region's
Most Connected Location
The Dubai International Airport handled 18 million passengers in 2003, and connects
to over 140 destinations. It is also ranked the 18th largest cargo traffic airport
in the world. With a tremendous annual growth rate of over 20 percent, Dubai
handled nearly 957,000 tones of air cargo in 2003, and this expanding of volume
is expected to continue over the next few years. By 2010, the airport is expected
to witness passenger throughput of 60 million.
Today, Dubai is recognized not only as the aviation hub of the Middle East, but also as one of the fastest growing airports in the world.
Consistently Strong
Economic Outlook
Dubai's currency, the Dirham, is pegged to the US dollar at 3.67 and has been
stable for close to a decade. The diversified economy, with oil contributing
less than 10 per cent to the GDP, and very low inflation, marked less than 2.5
percent between 1991 and 2000, it is hardly a surprise that only 1.7 per cent
of the active population remains unemployed.
Easy Access to Regional
Markets
Dubai is a vantage access point to target the emerging Middle East market with
a population of 2 billion and a combined GDP of US$ 7 trillion.
It is also easy to access a huge talent pool of 13.8 million skilled workers equipped with university degrees, from around the region.
Strong Foreign Trade
The third most important re-export centre in the world (after Hong Kong and
Singapore), Dubai is a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Thriving Tourist Destination
Dubai is fast emerging as one of the most popular holiday destinations of the
world, and is set to welcome 15 million tourists by the year 2010.
The city boasts several internationally renowned hotels, a bevy of restaurants, beaches and tourist attractions. Dubai's globally acclaimed sports facilities include golf, tennis, water sports, horse riding, dune driving and sand skiing. Several ongoing tourism projects are designed to develop Dubai into a luxury destination that rivals any other part of the world. These include The Palms - a trio of palm shaped resort islands, The World - a series of man made islands laid out in the shape of the world map, the tallest building in the world, an underwater hotel and an underground hotel.
Cosmopolitan Work Environment
A rich international melting pot, Dubai houses close to 200 nationalities, with
expatriates making up approximately 75 per cent of the UAE's population. It
is widely hailed as a progressive, safe and tolerant society. The international
diversity is reflected in world class facilities for entertainment, education,
leisure, sports, shopping and healthcare.
Safe and Stable Base
for Business
Dubai has displayed continuous political stability since its inception in 1971,
and its stable economy has relatively low volatility.
Dubai is one of the safest places in the world to live and to do business. The Business Monitor International’s Business Forecast Report for Q4 2004 gave the UAE a political risk rating of 87 and an international ranking of 4. This risk rating is even more impressive when compared to the regional average of 66.6, the emerging market average of 64.7 and the global market average of 67.5.
