Dubai's DMCC free zone signs up 1,230 companies for best first-half since 2013
Initiatives such as a blockchain-enabled refinery and crypto move boost numbers
Dubai: The Dubai free zone DMCC has just finished its best first six months since 2013, licensing an additional 1,230 businesses to operate from the hub. This builds on the 2,025 firms that signed up last year, benefitting from the relief packages and incentives DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre) offered after the COVID-19 strike.
“We have carried over the record-breaking performance of 2020 into 2021, with another set of very strong achievements across all our pillars,” said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and CEO. “The numbers speak for themselves and following the recent launch of the DMCC Crypto Centre, which has generated significant interest from the global crypto community, the second-half of the year looks even more promising.
“We expect to reach 20,000 members by year end – a target I am confident we will achieve.” (It currently hosts 19,000 firms.)
In April, DMCC signed a sale and purchase agreement with REIT Development to establish the largest precious metals refinery and storage facility in the GCC and the first to be completely enabled by blockchain in the GCC. The facility will refine and store precious metals - including gold, silver, platinum, palladium and rhodium - and which will be tokenised on goldexchange.com.
Located in Almas Tower, the DMCC Crypto Centre is set to be a hub for the development and application of crypto and blockchain technologies. It can host companies developing blockchain-enabled trading platforms, as well as firms offering, issuing, listing, and trading crypto assets.
Ahead of the launch, DMCC signed a MoU with the UAE's Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) to establish a regulatory framework for businesses offering, issuing, listing, and trading crypto assets in the free zone.