Improve Dubai’s favourable business environment

01

Attract international businesses & investments into Dubai

02

Drive international expansion of Dubai Chambers’ members

03

Grow Dubai’s digital
economy

04

Increase effectiveness
of advocacy

05

Sustain institutional
& customer excellence

06

As part of the organisation’s innovative three-chamber structure, three additional boards guide Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Dubai International Chamber, and Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy towards their strategic priorities.

The Dubai Chambers board brings together several of the emirate’s most prominent business leaders to steer the chambers’ strategic direction, ensure operational effectiveness, and amplify sustainable economic impact. Harnessing extensive experience across diverse sectors and leveraging access to influential networks, the board members support the chambers’ drive to achieve its vision for Dubai’s ambitious future.

Working closely with Dubai Chambers’ leadership and Boards of Directors, the Advisory Councils create a platform for the private sector to contribute expert guidance and help shape policies, initiatives, and projects that advance the chambers' strategic priorities.

The Advisory Councils of Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Dubai International Chamber, and Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy play an instrumental role in driving impact through advocacy and ensuring a favourable environment in which business can flourish.

The emirate’s positive economic performance was driven by exceptional growth across sectors including Accommodation & Food; Transportation & Storage; ICT; Real Estate; Finance & Insurance; Education, and Manufacturing. Both the number of visitors to Dubai and property transactions exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2023, signalling a renewed and sustained business confidence.

Against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving global landscape, Dubai's dynamic economy demonstrated remarkable resilience to achieve 3.3% year-over-year growth during the first nine months of 2023. This encouraging momentum was supported by several key factors and emerging growth sectors as the emirate continued to embrace diversification, digital transformation, and sustainability.

Strengthening the spirit of cooperation between the public and private sectors will play a central role in achieving our collective goals. Dubai Chambers serves as a bridge connecting the government with the emirate’s dynamic business community and strives to ensure that all stakeholders are fully aligned in their drive to unlock Dubai’s ambitious future.

As the leading representative of Dubai’s private sector, Dubai Chambers scaled up its efforts in 2023 to boost competitiveness, improve the ease of doing business, and advance Dubai’s digital economy to fulfil the promise of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33), a bold new economic vision that aims to double the emirate’s GDP within a decade.

The emirate’s impressive economic performance is on track to continue, bolstered by visionary steps to accelerate positive momentum in the legislative system, strengthen Dubai’s world-class infrastructure, elevate the quality of services, boost the city’s attractiveness to investors, and advance the government’s digital transformation agenda.

Dubai’s economy continued to expand in 2023, with key non-oil sectors playing a vital role in driving the emirate’s robust post-pandemic recovery. The emirate's GDP bucked global trends to achieve year-over-year (YoY) growth of 3.3% during Q1 – Q3 2023, further cementing Dubai's position as a global economic powerhouse.

3.3 %

GDP value

YoY growth

11.1 %

Accommodation & Food Services

YoY growth

10.9 %

Transportation & Storage Services

YoY growth

13.1 %

Contribution to GDP

3.4 %

Contribution to GDP

511

Greenfield projects

63 %

FDI share of medium & high-tech investment projects

6.58 %

Global share in attracting greenfield FDI projects

22.5 %

YoY growth

12.4 mn

Overnight vistors

1.77 mn

Tourists from India

(No. 1 source market)

148,809

Hotel rooms (815 hotel establishments)

75.7 %

Hotel occupancy

39.3 %

YoY growth

1 %

Growth vs Q1 - Q3 2019

25.2 %

YoY growth

8.9 mn

India

4.8 mn

Saudi Arabia

4.4 mn

United Kingdom

86.8 mn

2023 forecast for passenger traffic at DXB

64.5 mn

Passengers received

(Q1 - Q3 2023)

308,000

Flights handled by DXB

(Q1 - Q3 2023)

Traffic volume top country destinations

50.3 %

YoY growth

81,669

Investors registered 109,186 real estate investments worth AED 278.7 bn

85,000

Participants

198

Parties signed ‘The UAE Consensus’ to keep 1.5°C target within reach ​

US$ 85 bn

Funding mobilised through the UAE's Action Agenda

11

Pledges & declarations launched

Guided by its comprehensive 2022-2024 strategy, the organisation aligned its vision to the goals of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33) and proactively engaged with key public and private sector stakeholders to enhance cooperation and develop impactful initiatives.

Dubai Chambers continued to go from strength to strength during 2023, building on the positive momentum generated by the announcement of its innovative three-chamber structure in 2021.

Throughout 2023, Dubai Chamber of Commerce played a crucial role in improving the ease of doing business in Dubai while continuing to deliver value-added services to members and companies operating in the emirate.

The chamber once again achieved significant growth in memberships, with 67,222 new member companies registering during 2023. This represented an impressive year-over-year (YoY) growth of 20% and brought the total number of active members to 217,788, an increase of 26.8% on the previous year-end figure.

AED 284.5 bn

Value of member

exports & re-exports

735,155

Certificates of

Origin issued

67,222

New member companies

217,788

Total number of

active members

5,492

ATA Carnets issued

and received, with a

value of AED 5 bn

4.3 %

YoY growth

9.1 %

YoY growth in

member exporters

(13,688)

20 %

YoY growth

26.8 %

YoY growth

47 %

YoY growth in value

47

Country-specific

Business Councils

63

MoUs signed

385 %

YoY growth

76

New Business

Groups

105

Total Business Groups

128

Companies guided

and empowered to

enhance their growth

and sustainability

141

Mediation cases handled

75 %

Cases Settled

With Dubai playing host to the landmark COP28 summit in November and December, the CRB also took the initiative to facilitate participation among the private sector through a series of events and activations. These included a special workshop aimed at raising awareness about the important role the private sector, particularly SMEs, can play in advancing the sustainability agenda.

Dubai Chamber of Commerce’s Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) made significant strides this year in promoting CSR and guiding organisations to adopt sustainable and responsible business practices.
Bolstering Dubai's image as the foremost destination for businesses that hold environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) as an integral ideology, the CRB hosted its annual Sustainability Week in October with a series of activations and events.

Launched the Dubai Circular Incubation Centre

Developed a first-of-its-kind ESG Label

Concluded the inaugural ESG Pulse Survey

3,427

Participants

14

Sustainability series events organised

Dubai International Chamber, one of the three chambers operating under the Dubai Chambers umbrella, continued to attract international businesses to the emirate and ensure Dubai remains a magnet for foreign investors in 2023, while also successfully expanding its global reach by forging new connections and further strengthening its network of international representative offices.

The chamber launched a total of 16 new international offices this year to expand its global network to 31 offices across five continents, in line with the Dubai Global initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council.

104

SMEs attracted

550 %

YoY growth

116

Outbound trade missions & events organised

68

Cities visited

237

Inbound delegations & meetings

600 +

Participants

190 %

YoY growth

44

Countries

34

MNCs attracted

580 %

YoY growth

In line with the Dubai Global initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, Dubai International Chamber continued to lead the way for businesses from the emirate seeking avenues to expand their international reach and enter global markets.

The chamber successfully supported the global expansion of 77 member companies compared to 9 companies during 2022, registering 756% YoY growth. The chamber supported the expansion plans of the business community through its growing network of 31 international offices across five continents.

25

National business figures promoted in target markets

166

Business

networking events

organised

19,000 +

Participants attracted

2,881

B2B meetings arranged

6,912

Participants

3,762

Meetings conducted by international offices

50

International representative offices by 2030 (Dubai Global Target)

16

New international representative offices inaugurated during 2023

31

International representative offices

As Dubai continued on its journey towards economic diversification and sustainability in 2023, the emirate forged ahead powered by digital innovations with Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy spearheading efforts to advance the growth of this vital sector. The chamber has aligned its strategic priorities with the goals of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33), which seeks to generate an annual contribution of AED 100 billion from digital transformation projects.

During 2023, Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy succeeded in attracting 9 multinational companies (MNCs) to Dubai and supported the attraction of 549 startups in the field of advanced technology in cooperation with partners from various government entities. This represents a growth of around 916% compared to the number of digital startups attracted in 2022.

24

Roadshows and business trips across Middle East, Africa, Asia, & Europe

10

Industry sector workshops organised

6

Digital economy reports published

52

Unicorns

with US$ 663 bn total net worth

50

Prominent tech business leaders participated in IFC's Venture CEO Summit

33,060

Attendees

91

Countries

1,604

Startups

855

Investors with over US$ 1 tn in AUM

3X

Number of app creators by 2025

1,000

UAE nationals to be trained in app development

100

New national projects to be supported

Dubai Chamber of Commerce undertook a wide range of initiatives and activities during 2023 to support Business Groups and Councils, improve the ease of doing business in Dubai, and enhance the emirate’s global competitiveness.

The chamber’s Business Advocacy sector reviewed a total of 111 draft laws in cooperation with Business Groups in 2023, with the resulting recommendations submitted to relevant government entities achieving an adoption rate of 53%.

6

Key areas assessed as part of Legislative Enhancement Project

53 %

Adoption rate for recommendations

111

Draft laws reviewed

2

Comparative studies conducted on corporate and commercial agencies laws

94

One-on-one meetings

24

Business groups completed Business Groups Enablement Programme

6

Training workshops

Dubai Chambers continued to deliver institutional and customer excellence throughout 2023 through a series of programmes and initiatives. In July, Dubai Chambers launched the Service Excellence Programme in a bid to enhance customer experience in the emirate. The programme creates a platform that enables businesses to assess their customer service performance through tools including mystery shopper visits and online customer insights.

Dubai Chambers’ Strategy and Excellence department achieved a key milestone this year with the successful revamp of the pioneering Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award. Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the award recognises and celebrates the success of organisations that contribute to Dubai's sustainable economic development.

8

Events

Outstanding

Business

4

Categories

242

Attendees

135

Applications

Family

Business

Digital

Innovation

Global

Expansion

190

Training sessions

7,784

Total training hours

184 +

Employees trained