Dubai’s thriving economy owes its success to a long-term commitment to diversification, constant innovation, and an enabling business environment. The emirate’s strategic investments in sectors such as trade and logistics, among others, have made it a global hub for commerce.
All thanks to its forward-looking government policies, investor-friendly environment, access to foreign talent and efficient banking system, the emirate continues to outperform other leading economies.
Recently, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched The Dubai Economic Agenda ‘D33,’ an ambitious plan with a target of achieving AED 32 trillion in economic targets over the next ten years. The agenda’s focus areas include trade, transport, manufacturing, technology, and tourism, which DP World will contribute to through the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) and the Jebel Ali Port. As one of the largest free zones globally, Jafza has been a significant driver of Dubai’s economic growth, attracting over 9,500 companies, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies from over 140 countries. Jafza’s tax-free environment, streamlined regulatory processes, and world-class infrastructure make it an attractive investment destination. Jafza is also a leading source of FDI inflow to Dubai, making it a key player in ensuring the success of the D33 strategy.
Creating a sustainable economy
Progress here shows no sign of stopping and new programmes have been put in place to continue to create an attractive environment for businesses. To build on the consistent economic progress and developments in the emirate, D33 will focus on increasing foreign trade, attracting more foreign direct investment (FDI) and enhancing Dubai’s global ranking.
In our opinion, D33 is a strategy that will genuinely strengthen the foundation of Dubai’s sustainable economy. Through the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) and the Jebel Ali Port, we at DP World will significantly contribute to all the goals and aspirations of D33’s focus areas, namely Trade, Transport and Manufacturing, among others.
The agenda also seeks to add 400 cities as key trade partners and enhance existing foreign trade relations with Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia through the Dubai Economic Corridors 2033 initiative. We in DP World are integrating our assets globally to provide end-to-end supply chain solutions for our customers. We have launched trade bridges between UAE-India, UAE-Africa and more to connect Dubai to several cities globally, with the sole objective of enhancing Dubai’s market access to the world.
Enabling global connections
As a globally renowned trade hub, Jafza is well-known for its multimodal logistics that offer connectivity through sea, air, and land. This unique factor has played a key role in supporting our success as a trade hub. The free zone also gives customers access to a vast network of international markets, enhancing their reach and helping them target newer markets. All thanks to our strategic location at the crossroads of major trade routes between Asia, Europe, and Africa. These factors make Jafza an attractive destination for companies looking to establish regional and global control towers, manufacturing hubs, and regional distribution centres.
Coupled with this, our proximity to the Jebel Ali Port is another major advantage. The port provides customers with direct access to more than 80 weekly services. On-site logistics facilities, including warehouses and distribution centres, also help in streamlining the movement of goods in and out of the free zone.
Strong transportation links also help create an attractive environment for businesses. Dubai’s geographical location is serviced through two airports – with Jafza having proximity both to Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport. Our customers benefit greatly from a dedicated sea-air customs bonded corridor that facilitates the transport of goods to these airports within 45 minutes of discharge, providing them fast and easy access to a vast network of international flight routes to all parts of the world. Back on the ground, the established road network also connects customers to every emirate in the UAE and international highways to Oman and Saudi.
Additionally, the trade bridges established between DP World and vital trade markets in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia regions, serve as a massive advantage for Jafza customers, offering them easy, seamless, and undisrupted opportunities to carry out import and export operations through the removal of tariffs and technical barriers (TBT).
Innovative trade solutions
Strengthen Dubai’s status as global tech hub and fostering an ecosystem of innovation is another objective of D33. Together with Jebel Ali Port, Jafza is well-equipped in this regard. Our customers in the free zone and port have access to the latest technologies and cutting-edge infrastructure to stay ahead of the competition. They can also benefit greatly from pioneering solutions developed and introduced by DP World such as:
• BoxBay is an intelligent High Bay Storage (HBS) system located at Jebel Ali Terminal 4. Capable of storing containers up to 11 stories high, the system delivers the capacity of a conventional terminal in a third of the surface area. It is fully automated, offering access to each container, and eliminating unpaid and unproductive reshuffling. BoxBay brings significant gains in handling speed, energy efficiency, and safety, as well as a reduction in operating costs. After a successful pilot in Jebel Ali, the Pusan terminal in South Korea will be the world’s first to implement the BoxBay system.
• CARGOES TOS+, a fully automated terminal operating system located at Jebel Ali Port’s Container Terminal 3, is a significant step in the smart transformation of port and logistics operations. Offering solutions for remote control of port facilities, the system can integrate CT3 with terminals that use the same automation system, assuring sustained operations and smooth trade flow.
• Dubai Trade is a single-window platform for cross-border trade and is accessible to all Jafza companies. In addition to a paperless approach to trading operations and payments, the platform ensures 24/7 access to over 700 e-services to ensure seamless trade processes for users.
We are certain that D33 will usher a new phase of development for Dubai. We are proud of the role we played over the last three decades in making Dubai the undisputed regional gateway for the region, and we are confident that we will contribute positive to reinforce and grow Dubai’s position by actively participating in achieving the D33 strategy.
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