His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, has unveiled a plan to turn the emirate into one of the most economically powerful cities in the world in 10 years.
Sheikh Mohammed announced the Dubai Economic Program (D33), which provides for the implementation of more than 100 projects, which will lead to a doubling of the volume of the local economy. By 2033, Dubai should enter the top three most economically powerful cities in the world and the top four major financial centers of the planet.
Dubai plans to create trade corridors with 400 cities around the world, primarily in Africa and Latin America. In the next 10 years, Dubai will help 30 private companies grow to the level of a “unicorn”, that is, to reach a capitalization of over US$ 1 billion (3.67 billion dirhams).
Business incubators will also support the growth of 400 of the most promising local companies under the Sandbox Dubai program. The D33 plan will help bring 65,000 UAE citizens to the labor market, while the city will open campuses of new universities and develop the higher education sector.
Thus, Dubai’s economic agenda includes 100 transformational projects, economic initiatives totaling 32 trillion dirhams, plans to double the volume of foreign trade to 25 trillion dirhams and the construction of trade corridors to connect Dubai with 400 new cities around the world.
Dubai, according to the rulers, will attract foreign direct investment in the amount of over 700 billion dirhams. Only the digital transformation of the emirate will bring over 100 billion dirhams to the treasury annually. The ruler of Dubai invited 300 thousand investors living in the emirate to join the initiative.
Today, the leading financial centers are New York, London and Hong Kong, as well as Shanghai, Singapore and San Francisco. In the near future, Dubai plans to launch such initiatives as a single commercial license for all companies operating in the emirate; the Dubai Traders project to empower a new generation of traders in key sectors; the Sandbox Dubai incubator for testing and commercialization of innovative projects.
