Report highlights growth of Dubai as a global hub

A report published by Knight Frank has revealed the factors behind Dubai's emergence as a global hub: the growth in financial and business services, trade and logistics and tourism activity.

James Lewis, Head of Knight Frank Middle East, said: ‘‘The emirate has established itself as a safe, family-friendly and low tax environment – which combined with its connectivity to other global centres – has been attracting the world’s growing population of high-net-worth individuals. Naturally then, demand for luxury residential property has been gathering momentum.”

Looking forward, forecasts from the IMF suggest that the UAE’s economy will outperform the likes of the UK, US, Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore over 2015-2020. This, alongside the fact that the federation is among the easiest places to do business globally, should help to extend Dubai’s lead as a financial and business services hub in the Middle East. 

Turning to the industrial property sector, strong growth over the past decade in manufacturing and exports have been important drivers of demand for logistics facilities in and around Dubai. A number of reasons have supported this, including the excellent quality of the UAE’s transport infrastructure (it has been rated as the best in the world by the World Economic Forum) and the emirate’s strategic location between Europe, Africa and the Far East. 

Read The Hub Report 2015 and follow @BusinessRevME