Indians, Pakistanis lead the way in Dubai Chamber’s new business signings

Dubai: Indian-owned businesses had the highest representation in non-Emirati owned entities signing up with Dubai Chamber during the first nine months of 2024. In all, there were 12,142 such companies with Indian investors as promoters.

Those companies with Pakistani nationals as promoters came in second, with 6,061 in the first nine months, and those backed by Egyptians followed with 3,611.

The number of new Syrian companies joining Dubai Chamber totalled 2,062. Businesses with UK nationals ranked fifth (1,886 new companies) and Bangladesh-backed entities ranked sixth with 1,669.

Iraq secured seventh place on the list with 1,346 new member companies, and China claimed the eighth spot with 1,109 new companies joining the chamber’s membership.

In terms of sectoral distribution of new member companies joining the chamber between Q1-Q3 2024, the trade and services sector ranked first, accounting for 41.5 per cent of the total.

Real estate, renting, and business services sector came in second place, representing 33.3 per cent of the total. This was followed by the construction sector in third place on 10.4 per cent, and the transport, storage, and communications sector, which ranked fourth with 8.6 per cent.

The social and personal services sector came in fifth place on 6.8 per cent.