The Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (Dafza) said its trade in the first quarter of 2021 rose 4.7 per cent annually to more than $39 billion, as the emirate continues to attract foreign investment, diversify its economy and benefit from improving global trade in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dafza, which recorded a trade surplus of Dh2.44bn ($664 million), accounted for 11 per cent of Dubai’s trade during the first three months of 2021, maintaining the same level recorded in the first quarter of 2020, it said in a statement on Saturday.
“Dafza's strong performance in the first half of this year confirms its ability to attract and sustain foreign direct investments,” Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dafza, said. “Our results were an expected response to the recovery of the global trade movement and the opening of markets, proving the high confidence the emirate enjoys globally.”
Global trade is expected to improve this year after a rebound in the second half of 2020 due to pent-up demand for consumer durables from advanced economies, such as cars, according to the International Monetary Fund. The resumption of supply chains in emerging markets also bodes well for the prospects of growth in trade in 2021, the fund said.
Goods including machinery, televisions, electrical equipment, pearls, semi-precious stones and metals accounted for 94 per cent of Dafza's trade, the free zone said.
China was Dafza's biggest trading partner, accounting for 31 per cent of its trade in the first quarter of this year. Trade with China increased 56.4 per cent year-on-year.
“Dafza is keen to continue its engagement with strategic and new markets,” Mohammed Al Zarooni, director general of Dafza, said. “Dafza is adding real value to the existing customers and new companies looking to establish business and trade through the emirate of Dubai.”
The free zone, which supports more than 1,800 companies across more than 20 sectors, will undertake initiatives and projects this year that will “solidify its position as a pivotal economic contributor to the emirate”, Mr Al Zarooni added.
Dafza set a strategic plan at the beginning of the year to target recovering markets as countries started to lift restrictions on global trade flows during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dubai, a regional financial and tourism hub, is further developing its aviation and logistics infrastructure as it seeks to boost trade flows, create jobs and attract high-skilled talent.
Dafza also recorded an 8.3 per cent increase in sales revenue during the first half of 2021, on the back of a rise in the number of new companies, higher demand for logistics units and introducing economic incentives to attract new investors.
A 24 per cent rise in leased areas and an 88.4 per cent annual increase in the number of registered companies drove revenue from new sales during the first quarter, Dafza said.
Of these registered companies, the number of multinationals locating to Dafza climbed 23.5 per cent while the number of registered small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) jumped 96.4 per cent, compared with the first half of 2020.
Dubai's economy, which is bouncing back amid a rapid mass Covid-19 inoculation programme, is also expected to benefit from hosting the Expo world fair from October through to the end of March 2021.
“This means the coming phase will be a promising period of recovery that will positively reflect on our economy and the other neighbouring markets,” Sheikh Ahmed said.
During the first half of the year, Dafza signed an agreement with the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) to support the regulation, offering, issuance, listing and trading of crypto assets within the free zone.
The new agreement allows companies trading with crypto assets and cryptocurrencies to be licensed within Dafza, with the SCA issuing the relevant approvals and licences.
To support SMEs, Dafza also launched Scality, a start-up programme aimed at attracting local, regional and global tech start-ups to set up and grow in the emirate.
SMEs make up about 95 per cent of all companies in Dubai, employ 42 per cent of the workforce and contribute about 40 per cent of the emirate's gross domestic product, according to government agency Dubai SME.
Match info:
Real Betis v Sevilla, 10.45pm (UAE)
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How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
U19 World Cup in South Africa
Group A: India, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka
Group B: Australia, England, Nigeria, West Indies
Group C: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe
Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, UAE
UAE fixtures
Saturday, January 18, v Canada
Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan
Saturday, January 25, v South Africa
UAE squad
Aryan Lakra (captain), Vriitya Aravind, Deshan Chethyia, Mohammed Farazuddin, Jonathan Figy, Osama Hassan, Karthik Meiyappan, Rishabh Mukherjee, Ali Naseer, Wasi Shah, Alishan Sharafu, Sanchit Sharma, Kai Smith, Akasha Tahir, Ansh Tandon
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
Ballon d’Or shortlists
Men
Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool), Sergio Aguero (Aregentina/Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (Netherlans/Barcelona), Hugo Lloris (France/Tottenham), Dusan Tadic (Serbia/Ajax), Kylian Mbappe (France/PSG), Trent Alexander-Arnold (England/Liverpool), Donny van de Beek (Netherlands/Ajax), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon/Arsenal), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany/Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Juventus), Alisson (Brazil/Liverpool), Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands/Juventus), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands/Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool), Bernardo Silva (Portugal/Manchester City), Son Heung-min (South Korea/Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (Brazil/Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria/Manchester City), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal/Napoli), Antoine Griezmann (France/Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool), Eden Hazard (BEL/Real Madrid), Marquinhos (Brazil/Paris-SG), Raheem Sterling (Eengland/Manchester City), Joao Félix(Portugal/Atletico Madrid)
Women
Sam Kerr (Austria/Chelsea), Ellen White (England/Manchester City), Nilla Fischer (Sweden/Linkopings), Amandine Henry (France/Lyon), Lucy Bronze(England/Lyon), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands/Arsenal), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany/Lyon), Pernille Harder (Denmark/Wolfsburg), Sarah Bouhaddi (France/Lyon), Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC), Lieke Martens (Netherlands/Barcelona), Sari van Veenendal (Netherlands/Atletico Madrid), Wendie Renard (France/Lyon), Rose Lavelle(USA/Washington Spirit), Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride), Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Lyon), Kosovare Asllani (Sweden/CD Tacon), Sofia Jakobsson (Sweden/CD Tacon), Tobin Heath (USA/Portland Thorns)
