DUBAI — Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the global financial services hub connecting businesses and financial institutions with emerging markets across the Middle East, Africa & South Asia (MEASA), achieved another record year in 2015, it was announced over the weekend.
The number of new company registrations at DIFC increased by more than a quarter (27%) compared with 2014, from 242 to 309, the highest number achieved in a single year to date.
The size of the total workforce employed within DIFC also grew up to 19,808, an 11% increase compared with last year and around 40% of the overall target DIFC has set as part of its 2024 growth strategy.
Commenting on DIFC’s exceptional performance, Essa Kazim, Governor of Dubai International Financial Centre, said: “DIFC passed a number of significant landmarks last year. The size and diversity of our client portfolio continues to expand alongside our evolution from an international financial centre into a global financial hub. Last year we unveiled our long-term growth strategy, and we are well on the way to achieving a number of its key objectives.”
Kazim added: “With MEASA expected to account for a substantial share of global economic growth over the next decade, DIFC is well positioned to benefit from the trade and investment flows entering the region and from the emergence of the South-South economic corridor linking Asia, Africa and Latin America.”
A record 1,445 active registered firms now operate within DIFC, compared with 1,225 firms at the end of 2014, an increase of 18% recording the highest number since DIFC inception.
Last year, the number of active registered firms in the financial services and non-financial services sectors grew 13% and 22%, respectively, compared with 2014. — SG
