The Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), a global commercial hub connecting businesses across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA), has pledged to support China's "Belt and Road" initiative in a bid to reach its growth objectives over the next decade.
DIFC Governor Essa Kazim on Thursday unveiled the center's expansion plans in a meeting held in Beijing.
Those plans will see the center triple in size by 2024. In the next decade, the DIFC also aims to triple the number of the center's financial firms to 1,000, with staff increasing from 17,860 to 50,000 and assets under management up from $10.4 billion to $250 billion.
More than half of the new companies are expected to come from developing countries and regions in Asia and Africa.
China is the first country outside the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to have been chosen for a formal unveiling of the strategy.
"China is a key market in our long-term strategy. The DIFC's 10-year strategy offers the tools, talent and supporting environment to help Chinese companies realize their development priorities in the MEASA region," said Kazim at the meeting.
Kazim also noted that the slowdown of China's economy is not affecting the DIFC's confidence in Chinese business.
"We expect more financial firms and banks from China," Kazim told the Global Times Thursday.
Inspired by the "Belt and Road" initiative, Chinese financial companies have become involved in the DIFC's global business exchange in recent months.
Bank of China listed 2 billion yuan ($322 million) in bonds on NASDAQ Dubai in July to support cross-border trade and infrastructure activities, while Industrial and Commercial Bank of China listed 3.2 billion yuan in bonds in June, according to the DIFC.
The DIFC said it provides a 40-year guarantee of zero taxes on corporate income and profits, enhanced by the UAE's wide network of double-taxation avoidance treaties with more than 60 regulators and central banks. There is no restriction on capital or profit flows for DIFC-based firms.
Over 4,200 Chinese firms from industries such as building materials and textiles operate businesses in the UAE, a jump from 18 in 2005, said DIFC.
