Dubai: Dubai Chamber’s membership registered a 24.3 per cent increase in the first six months of 2014 compared to the same period last year.
In the first half of the year 8,700 new companies joined the Chamber taking the total membership to 160,000 by the end of June.
Continuing with its global expansion Dubai Chamber opened its third international representative office in the city of Arbil in Kurdistan and is all set to open two new offices in Ghana and Mozambique in the near future as part of its strategy to open around 20 representative offices in key emerging markets around the world.
Dubai Chamber’s half year data shows that its members’ exports and re-exports between January and June 2014 were worth Dh149 billion registering a 2.8 per cent growth compared to Dh145 billion during the same period in 2013. The monthly total [exports] of June 2014 was the highest during the first six months of the year at Dh27.1 billion, while January recorded the lowest value at Dh21.8 billion.
“The Chamber members’ half-yearly exports and re-exports figure is a record number as it reflects the desire of foreign companies to set up base in Dubai and expand their global business activities through the emirate,” said Hamad Bu Amim, President and CEO, Dubai Chamber.
Rising profile
In the first half of the year Dubai Chamber issued a total of 445,000 certificates of origin (COs), compared to 418,000 COs issued in the first half of 2013, equal to a 6.3 per cent increase while the number of certificates of origin issued in June totalled 81,000 in one single month while the minimum number of COs issued in January was 65,000.
“It is an indicator of the emirate’s rising profile as a prominent international destination for trade and finance which has further fuelled the global investors’ appetite to invest in Dubai’s lucrative economic sectors which are led by trade, logistics, tourism and finance,” said Bu Amim.
The Chamber received 102 international delegations, comprised of 572 delegates, recording a 13.7 per cent growth in the number of visiting delegates compared to the same period in 2013. At the same time, Dubai Chamber participated in 41 events around the world, in 31 cities from 25 countries. During the period the Chamber organised trade missions to Hamburg for the 4th Dubai Hamburg Business Forum, to Kurdistan, and retail and franchising trade mission to Azerbaijan and ASAE International Convention in Washington DC.
During the first half, the Chamber received a total of 287 arbitration and mediation cases. The organisation’s initiative, Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), received 90 arbitration cases, while Dubai Chamber’s Legal Services department received 197 mediation cases during the same period.
Transforming services
Continuing its efforts to support business growth, Chamber studied, reviewed and followed up on 11 federal legislations. Dubai Chamber has served 160,000 customers with a minimum waiting time of 15 minutes for 62 per cent customers while the processing time took only 6 minutes for 74.2 per cent customers during the first half of 2014. The Chamber is working currently to transform its services into smart services.
In the first half of the year, Dubai Chamber launched the Dubai Association Centre (DAC) in collaboration with the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and Dubai World Trade Centre (DTWC). The idea behind DAC is to establish a platform in Dubai for international professional and business associations to meet, exchange knowledge and network and to cater to the region and beyond from the emirate.
