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His Excellency Essa Kazim, Governor of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Chairman of the DIFC Authority, last week led a trade delegation to Beijing to reinforce and build upon the increasingly important trade partnership between the UAE and China.
During His Excellency’s first visit to Beijing in his capacity as Governor of the DIFC, the delegation highlighted the Centre’s unique role as the pre-eminent business and financial hub for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region. With an internationally recognised independent regulatory and legislative framework, the delegation also set out to raise the DIFC’s profile as a stable and transparent business environment that operates within its own jurisdiction.
The UAE has proven to be a prime location for Chinese companies seeking access to markets in the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Chinese / UAE trade relations have grown rapidly during recent years with total trade between the two nations rising to USD 36.7 billion in 2013. DIFC is already home to China’s four biggest banks and with more than 200,000 Chinese expatriates working and living in the UAE, China has a growing significance in the nation’s economy.
His Excellency Essa Kazim commented:
“In 2008, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Since then our bilateral trade relations have flourished. The DIFC’s unique geographical position and its world-class regulatory framework have enabled us to provide Chinese companies with a safe and stable gateway to markets in the west and to the rapidly emerging African markets. China and Africa are working together to double their two-way trade to USD 400 billion by 2020, meaning that Dubai will become an increasingly important location for Chinese companies looking to access to these markets.”
Chinese markets have continued to grow steadily since the global financial crisis, with GDP rising by 7.7 per cent in 2013 and projected growth of 7.5 per cent for this year. Having overtaken the US as the world’s largest exporter and with 11.5 per cent of global trade, China’s influence on global trade flows and manufacturing will be further heightened as the country seeks to liberalise its economy. The Chinese government has recently signalled a commitment to further deregulate its capital markets, and approved the country’s first private banks, making investment into China increasingly attractive to companies based in the UAE.
The UAE is now home to 4,200 Chinese companies, 356 Chinese trading agencies and more than 2,500 Chinese registered trademarks; supporting the World Economic Forum’s view that the UAE is the best Middle Eastern country for enabling trade.
According to a recent report from World Bank, the UAE is the leading Arab country when it comes to ease of doing business. The UAE leads the region in the categories of starting a business, registering property, and trading across borders.
