REPORTS DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH IN 2015
- + 18% new member companies to 11,558 – 12,000 surpassed in April 2016
- + 23% DGCX volumes – 14.5 million contracts traded
- DMCC Tradeflow delivers AED 800 million record transaction with leading international bank
- DMCC Tea Centre re-exports 45 million kilos of tea
DMCC, the Government authority on trade, enterprise and commodities in Dubai, today released its annual report for 2015 that reveals market leading growth across all business units.
The number of companies registering to trade within the DMCC Free Zone last year increased by 18% to more than 11,500. Strong member company registration growth has continued in 2016 with more than12,000signed up by the second quarter, cementing DMCC’s position as the Best Free Zone in the World, an accolade earned at the Financial Times fDi Magazine Global Free Zone of the Year Awards in 2015.
On average, DMCC welcomed 7 new member companies for each working day of the year, 18% more than in 2014, cementing DMCC as the largest and fastest growing Free Zone in the UAE.
Other key achievements included the launch of Middle East’s first Google for Entrepreneurs Global Tech Hub with AstroLabs Dubai; record-breaking trading volumes of over 14.5 million contracts on the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX), and ranking number 1 out 76 free zones across the globe in Financial Times fDi’s Global Free Zone of the Year Awards.
“We are extremely proud of our performance in 2015 and making DMCC a home for over 12,000 member companies,” said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, DMCC. “We celebrate this achievement, as the largest Free Zone in the UAE and global Free Zone of the year, together with all of the member companies who have come to Dubai and DMCC to pursue business opportunities in a truly global and connected marketplace.”
DMCC is today home to many global industry leaders including: Alcatel Lucent Middle East and North Africa, American Express, Bvlgari, Carrera Y Carrera, Colgate-Palmolive, Duracell, Dyson, Eurofin, Hakan Agro, John West Foods, Louis Dreyfus, Lukoil, LVMH, Nutricia Danone, Oddfjell, Olam International, Tata International, TAG Worldwide, Topaz Energy and Marine, and Whirlpool.
To mark its 12,000 member company milestone, DMCC today also launched an online series of member company profiles that shows why many of the world’s leading business choose the DMCC Free Zone.
Gautam Sashittal, Chief Executive Officer, DMCC, said: “We are delighted that businesses around the world recognise DMCC as the destination of choice. Sitting at the epicentre of global commerce, we are passionate about delivering new and sustainable marketplaces for our over 12,000 Free Zone member companies whilst continuing to bring the physical, financial and digital infrastructure they need to operate efficiently and trade with confidence.”
DMCC’s commodities businesses continued to report strong growth and delivery of new products including:
- The launch DGCX’s Single Stock Futures enabling members to trade shares of Facebook, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Infosys, Tata Motors;
- DMCC Tradeflow, which provides a secure vehicle for owners and lenders to finance commodities, delivering a record AED 800 million transaction with leading international bank;
The DMCC Tea Centre handled 45 Million Kilos of tea in 2015 with a growth rate of 208% over the past three years. It currently processes teas from 13 different countries including Kenya, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Vietnam, Japan, Uganda, and China.
Dubai is also the leading physical gold market and in the top three diamond trading hubs in the world.
Further underpinning DMCC’s drive to boosting commodities trade along the West to East corridor – connecting directly into China’s One Belt One Road initiative, DMCC announced a Memorandum of Understanding with the China Silver Group, China’s largest silver producer. Bank of China also announced it has become a settlement bank on the DGCX in the first quarter of 2016.
As for its property division, the DMCC Free Zone now stands at 66 completed mixed-use towers including five hotels, 92 educational establishments and over 500 retail outlets across DMCC’s 200-hectare development Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT).
Built to LEED gold certification, DMCC completed ONE JLT, a glass-box style building located in the heart of the DMCC Free Zone, key to DMCC’s expansion strategy catering to the increasing demand of large corporations and entities such as MODUL University Vienna seeking to house their entire operations in efficient, single-owner commercial space in Dubai.
DMCC also launched a unique report on ‘The Future of Trade’ which provides a view of how ‘The Future of Trade’ will unfold over the next ten years, building on insights shared by 150 experts across five continents over twelve months. ‘The Future of Trade’ report was produced by DMCC in conjunction with Futureagenda.org and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), a leading UK economics consultancy.
For further information on DMCC and the full annual report visit www.dmcc.ae/12kmembers