Dubai Silicon Oasis reports 16% increase in revenue

The number of companies operating in the free zone grew by 12 per cent in the first half of the year to 1,187.

Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA) yesterday announced a 16 per cent increase in revenue for the first half of 2015 to Dh245.4 million.

It also said net profit for the period stood at Dh93.8m, although a comparative figure for 2014 was not provided.

The authority, which is owned by the Government of Dubai and oversees the Silicon Oasis free zone, also managed to increase the number of companies operating from the zone by 12 per cent during the period - to 1,187.

Of these, 71 per cent specialise in IT, while the remaining 29 per cent work across sectors including commerce and services.

About 37 per cent of firms within the zone are from the Mena region, 30 per cent are headquartered in Europe, 21 per cent in Asia, 11 per cent from America and 1 per cent from Australia and New Zealand.

The authority’s chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed said that it is currently carrying out investment projects of its own worth more than Dh1.4 billion, and has attracted foreign investment in new projects worth almost Dh1.9bn into the area.

Its own projects include the Dh1.2bn Silicon Park scheme, a 150,000 square metre development billed as the first integrated smart city project in the region. It also includes the Dh97m Technohub projects for start-ups and a fifth phase of light industrial units valued at Dh42m.

Investors' projects include the Dh1bn Fakeeh Academic Medical Centre, for which a construction contract was awarded last week to Habtoor Leighton Group, and a Dh500m shopping centre due to be delivered in 2018.

In its recent third-quarter report for the UAE, the property consultancy Asteco identified Dubai Silicon Oasis as the area with the fastest-growing apartment rents.

Rents in the community increased by 9 per cent year-on-year, although sale prices over the same period fell by 11 per cent.

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