The Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority, which includes the Dubai Airport Free Zone, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Dubai CommerCity, reported a 42 per cent annual increase in its operating profit and a 29 per cent rise in total revenue last year.
The entity, which has more than 22,000 companies across its free zones, also recorded a 9 per cent increase in rental revenue, the Dubai Media Office said on Sunday.
It also reported a 69 per cent increase in revenue from commercial licences, government services and other services in 2022.
“DIEZ contributed 5 per cent to Dubai’s gross domestic product and 11 per cent to the emirate’s non-oil foreign trade in 2022,” Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed, chairman of the DIEZ, said.
“The results reinforce DIEZ’s status as a platform for attracting foreign direct investment as well as our strategic role in achieving the goals of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 to double the size of the emirate’s economy and consolidate its position as one of the world’s top three cities over the next decade.”
In 2021, Sheikh Ahmed approved the organisation’s new structure that was aimed at enhancing free zone integration in the emirate and providing comprehensive solutions to investors and companies.
Integrating the three free zones aims to strengthen Dubai’s economy and enable the emirate to provide an “exceptional investment and business experience and high-quality solutions and services to businesses”, DIEZ said at the time.
More than 41,000 employees are currently based out of DIEZ, the media office said.
The authority's strong results were driven by the “strategic integration of economic zones focused on enhancing growth and expansion opportunities and providing a supportive environment for the business and investment community”, Mohammed Al Zarooni, executive chairman of DIEZ, said.
Strategic partnerships with government and private entities in 2022 also increased the flow of investments, the media office said.
These include an agreement with wasl Asset Management Group to develop the Food Technology Valley project in Dubai, which aims to establish an integrated city to enhance food production.
Earlier this year, DIEZ also signed a preliminary agreement with the Dubai Health Authority to offer investment opportunities and support start-ups.
“Over the coming years, DIEZ will continue to advance its strategy focused on staying ahead of the latest global economic, business and investment developments and trends, implementing innovative international practices and forging productive partnerships with key stakeholders in vital sectors,” the media office said.
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
French Touch
Carla Bruni
(Verve)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
