Dubai, UAE – Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Authority contributes about 5 percent of the value of the nominal GDP of Dubai, Arif Amiri, CEO of the centre said on Monday.
In an interview with the Emirates News Agency (WAM), Amiri said that the centre is the largest in wealth and asset management in the region, with more than 250 companies managing assets worth more than US$450 billion and more than 100 international funds operating locally.
The contribution of financial companies operating from DIFC to the financial services sector in the country exceeded 13 percent of the nominal GDP of Dubai during 2021, he added.
Amiri said the centre is the leading financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, which includes more than 72 countries with a population of approximately 3 billion people, and an estimated gross domestic product of US$8 trillion.
The DIFC has already been ranked first in the Middle East and among the top 20 globally on the Global Financial Centres Index for 2022.
The CEO said that among the 4,031 companies registered in DIFC, 17 are the top 20 banks in the world, 25 are the 30 most important banks of systemic importance globally, 5 are the top 10 insurance companies, and 5 are the top 10 asset management companies.
The centre, Amiri said, has attracted 1252 related companies specialising in finance and innovation, while the first six months of last year witnessed an increase in the number of financial technology companies and innovation companies registered in the centre to 599 companies, a year-on-year increase by 23 percent.
“The past year witnessed a number of clients seeking to upgrade their work licences at the centre, including Societe Generale Bank and Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait,” he said.
Asked about the most prominent international companies and institutions that have recently joined DIFC, Amiri said that the list of new clients included Tarabut Gateway, the first UAE-based platform fully authorised by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) for Open Finance activities; KMMRCE Holdings, a leading Dubai-based digital-first technology provider; Oneglobal Broking, specialist international broking company; ADIB Capital for Wealth and Asset Management; as well as Rapyd, which started operating in accordance with the laws and regulations in force in the country.
He pointed out that DIFC signed a number of agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) last year, including the MoU signed with the UAE Central Bank in support of the efforts to develop and expand the financial technology sector in the country, in addition to the Open Finance Lab initiative, the first of its kind in the region, as well as the signing of the “India-UAE Startup Bridge” agreement.
The centre has also launched “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Coding licence” to encourage more companies to establish a presence in DIFC.