ZCZC
BCN-14
UAE-COMPANIES-FINANCIAL-ZONE-DIFC
Companies in UAE’s int’l financial free zone increase by 14 pct
DUBAI, July 16, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – The total number of active registered
firms in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) reached 2,003 at the
end of June, up 14 percent from 1,750 in the same period last year, DIFC said
on Sunday.
DIFC, the biggest financial free zone in the Middle East, said the trend
in the first half of this year “reflects the industry’s continued confidence
in Dubai and its leadership’s vision.”
Arif Amiri, CEO of the DIFC Authority, said “the new clients who have
opened in DIFC range from FinTech start-ups which are supported by our vast
ecosystem, to global industry giants.”
During the first six months of 2018, 50 percent of start-ups from the
first FinTech Hive program, the region’s first FinTech accelerator, have set
up in DIFC. The total funding raised by these start-ups amounts to 10 million
U.S. dollars.
Founded in 2014, the DIFC now has approximately 23,000 employees working
in it.
The financial free zone expects Chinese firms to set up in the center in
the future as it recorded in the first six months of 2018 “growing interest”
from Chinese institutions in the center and its FinTech ecosystem.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1145