To the east of Shaikh Zayed Road near Jebel Ali lies a 200-hectare strip of land that not more than a decade ago was almost entirely barren. Today it is a busy cluster of skyscrapers — home to the Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) community, the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority (DMCC) free zone, and commodities exchange. It is one of Dubai’s success stories; one that has withstood economic recession, registering its greatest period of growth during the last few years. Behind this development is Ahmad Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of DMCC, a man who has been part of the organisation since it was a mere abstraction in the imagination of Dubai’s executive quarter.
From his office in the Almas Tower, he oversees the operations of a spate of organisations. DMCC, JLT, Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange, Dubai Diamond Exchange, Dubai Pearl Exchange, and Dubai Tea Trading Centre are all part of a dynamic network helping drive and diversify commerce in the Emirate. The Chairman himself is an incredibly driven man, who thrives on a discernible passion — evident when he speaks — for what has been built here. “This is my life’s commitment,” he says. “I’ve always looked at people who are experts in one field, even athletes who make one sport their life’s work. I understand why they stick to it and never get bored. It’s about having something that challenges you every single day. We have managed to cultivate an attitude and culture here that is about handling every matter that comes our way.”
He highlights that the last three years, though tough generally, were JLT and DMCC’s best. In the first six months of this year, company registrations in the free zone equalled what they had in 2010 — which in itself was a record-breaking year. There are currently around 3,600 companies in operation, and the target is for that number to double by 2013.
Moving forward to the topic of the commodities exchange, it becomes apparent that Sulayem pays meticulous attention to detail. “I was not impressed with the volumes of gold securities in Nasdaq Dubai for a long time. Recently they have spiked, but I think they could have been pushed harder from the beginning. What I’d like to see is consistency. Whether it is Nasdaq or the DGCX handling trading, it’s still good for the UAE. I’m of the view that we should move the operation to the DGCX — we did not have the technology to handle spot trading in the beginning but now we do. I think that Dubai can be the number one gold exchange in the world — I don’t believe that is very far-sighted. We have the credibility. For several years we talked about a gold coin that could be a souvenir but also legal tender. It came to me while I was attending the launch of the Burj Khalifa. At that I thought — what better monument than the world’s tallest building named after the president to be on the UAE’s first bullion coin? No other country in the Middle East has anything like it, and it’s fast becoming a staple gold product around the world.”
It becomes obvious that maintaining global competitiveness is very important to Sulayem. He believes that attaining parity with the world’s leading financial exchanges is not beyond the DMCC. “We keep reminding the other free zones here that we all need to build our own edge — whether it’s pricing, speed of service or whatever. The game is not between us free zones — you have Singapore and Hong Kong to deal with.”
Sulayem is unsurprisingly a recipient of multiple accolades from around the world. These include awards for innovation and performance for fund management, for deals in trade finance, and honours from the New York Diamond Dealers Club. The Chairman is sentimental when it comes to his career — finding it difficult to see it outside the context of the DMCC. “There’s no way I’d ever leave the DMCC. From day one my condition was that if I join I will see this through. There is so much more to deliver and I think there will always be. If I wasn’t adding value I wouldn’t be here. Even if I do retire someday, I’ll still be involved in the commodities business one way or the other.”
