The number of companies operating in Dubai Internet City increased by 10 per cent annually in the first half of 2024, boosting the number of professionals in the district that is home to market players providing services for emerging technologies, its managing director said.
There were more than 3,500 organisations, comprising Fortune 500 companies, tech majors and start-ups in the district in the six months through June, Ammar Al Malik told The National at the Gitex Global technology conference in Dubai on Monday. That has resulted in the number of professionals at Dubai Internet City topping 30,000, an increase of more than 5 per cent compared with the same period in 2023, said Mr Al Malik, also executive vice president of commercial leasing at Dubai Internet City's parent Tecom Group.
"There are large corporations setting up base in the country. We're seeing the number of companies and talent growing, and we are also seeing some movements as start-up funding starts to come back as well," he said.
Additionally, Dubai Internet City plans to add premium office spaces across more than 46,000 square metres at its expansion developments, as it seeks to support the growing number of businesses setting up operations in the emirate. The Grade A facilities are part of the second and third phases of Dubai Internet City's Innovation Hub, which aims to boost the emirate's business fundamentals and infrastructure.
Tecom in August completed the acquisition of new commercial and industrial assets, which was part of a Dh1.7 billion ($462.8 million) development plan announced in May, in conjunction with plans to develop premium office spaces worth Dh340 million at Dubai Internet City. That brought the total value Tecom's investments in 2024 to more than Dh2 billion, after earlier investments of Dh966 million to acquire commercial and industrial assets from Dubai Holding Asset Management and allotting Dh689 million for to develop Grade A offices at Dubai Design District.
As a result, Tecom's gross leasable area of high-quality commercial assets is now 929,000 square metres, with its land leasing portfolio rising to 16.6 million square metres. The new offices will cater to research and development labs, innovation centres and multinationals "to ensure the ecosystem continues to have the necessary infrastructure to help [companies] in their future expansion", Mr Al Malik said.
"This is a continuation of our efforts in order to attract the best talent and best companies to set up and to make the UAE their base going forward."
The number of start-ups at Dubai Internet City's incubator, in5, has passed 1,000 and have so far raised Dh8 billion since it was formed in 2013. The district was where successful home-grown start-ups including “super app” Careem and e-commerce platform Souq.com, which was bought and now operates as Amazon, emerged.
Careem is also only one of four UAE unicorns – start-ups with a valuation of at least $1 billion – alongside, Kitopi, Swvl and Emerging Markets Property Group. The Dubai government, under its D33 economic agenda, set forth plans to make the emirate home to 30 unicorns by 2033 – a figure that could be passed, Mr Al Malik said.
"Whether we reach it or not, it's too early to say at this stage. But we have set up the right infrastructure for these 30 start-ups and maybe even more by the deadline that we have," he added.
Start-ups play a crucial role in economies, as they are able to provide smart services that are essential to daily business and personal activities, tapping into the latest technologies to reach a wider set of users. The UAE has emerged as a prominent hub for start-ups, underpinned by government support through business accelerators, financing services and sponsorship programmes to attract entrepreneurs from around the world.
Overall, the small and medium enterprise sector in the UAE has continued to experience notable development and growth, with various companies established in the country evolving into successful businesses within a short span of time, the Ministry of Economy said.
"The talent pool is changing. Dubai is becoming more advanced as more students come in, there are more research and development facilities being built and larger corporations moving into and establishing businesses," Mr Al Malik said. "But then we have start-ups moving into and coming out of this region, and most successful start-ups are located in Dubai. This is a reflection of the talent and we are optimistic about what we see in the future when it comes to that."
Dubai Internet City was established in 1999 and is part of Tecom Group’s portfolio of 10 sector-specific business districts – Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City, Dubai Production City, Dubai Knowledge Park, Dubai International Academic City, Dubai Science Park, Dubai Industrial City, Dubai Outsource City and Dubai Design District.
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Joe Root's Test record
Tests: 53; Innings: 98; Not outs: 11; Runs: 4,594; Best score: 254; Average: 52.80; 100s: 11; 50s: 27
RESULTS
5pm Wathba Stallions Cup Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Munfared, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ahmed Al Mehairbi (trainer)
5.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Sawt Assalam, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Dergham Athbah, Pat Dobbs, Mohamed Daggash
6.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Rajee, Fernando Jara, Majed Al Jahouri
7pm Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Kerless Del Roc, Fernando Jara, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
7.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner Pharoah King, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
8pm Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner Sauternes Al Maury, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson
11 cabbie-recommended restaurants and dishes to try in Abu Dhabi
Iqbal Restaurant behind Wendy’s on Hamdan Street for the chicken karahi (Dh14)
Pathemari in Navy Gate for prawn biryani (from Dh12 to Dh35)
Abu Al Nasar near Abu Dhabi Mall, for biryani (from Dh12 to Dh20)
Bonna Annee at Navy Gate for Ethiopian food (the Bonna Annee special costs Dh42 and comes with a mix of six house stews – key wet, minchet abesh, kekel, meser be sega, tibs fir fir and shiro).
Al Habasha in Tanker Mai for Ethiopian food (tibs, a hearty stew with meat, is a popular dish; here it costs Dh36.75 for lamb and beef versions)
Himalayan Restaurant in Mussaffa for Nepalese (the momos and chowmein noodles are best-selling items, and go for between Dh14 and Dh20)
Makalu in Mussaffa for Nepalese (get the chicken curry or chicken fry for Dh11)
Al Shaheen Cafeteria near Guardian Towers for a quick morning bite, especially the egg sandwich in paratha (Dh3.50)
Pinky Food Restaurant in Tanker Mai for tilapia
Tasty Zone for Nepalese-style noodles (Dh15)
Ibrahimi for Pakistani food (a quarter chicken tikka with roti costs Dh16)
Results
ATP Dubai Championships on Monday (x indicates seed):
First round
Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Marton Fucsovics (HUN) bt Damir Dzumhur (BIH) 6-1, 7-6 (7/5)
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) bt Karen Khachanov (RUS x4) 6-4, 6-1
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) bt Milos Raonic (CAN x7) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.
FIXTURES
UAE’s remaining fixtures in World Cup qualification R2
Oct 8: Malaysia (h)
Oct 13: Indonesia (a)
Nov 12: Thailand (h)
Nov 17: Vietnam (h)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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AIR
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Types of fraud
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
* Nada El Sawy
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Women%E2%80%99s%20Asia%20Cup
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Asia%20Cup%202022
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
