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29 March 2024

Dubai Holding for long-term investments

Ahmad bin Bayat, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Dubai Holding

Published
By Staff

Dubai Holding, a government-owned international investment group, is targeting long-term investments worldwide in its push to maximise revenue for the emirate and diversify its income sources, a senior company executive has said.

Ahmad bin Byat, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, said Dubai Holding controls investments in many countries, including Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Malta, India and Greece, adding that it always strives to “take the right decision at the right time.”

He said: “We target strategic projects with long-term investment as the group’s policy is not based on quick profits…we focus on added-value projects that are compatible with the emirate’s policies and will diversity its economy.”

“Our investments abroad are diversified and they cover many countries. In India, our investments are progressing well while we are pursuing our investment drive in Malta, where we have signed a partnership with the government to build a Smart City based on the innovation complexes we have here in Dubai,” he added.

Byat, who was speaking at a meeting organised by the Dubai Government's Media Office, said nearly 60 per cent of Dubai Holding’s revenues are fixed, adding that it owns around 25,000 rented housing units as well as 11 innovation and creative complexes employing in excess of 72,000 people.

He said Dubai Holding’s planned Mall of the World is progressing as per schedule, describing it as a “giant, integrated tourism project.”

He said it would give a strong push to the tourism sector in Dubai, which attracted more than 13 million visitors last year.

“This underscores Dubai’s important position…the city is now the fourth tourism destination in the world after London, Paris and Bangkok in terms of the number of tourists relative to the population. Dubai is focusing on the future and it is helped by its flexible economy,” he said.

Byat said Dubai Holding, one of the region’s largest groups, is investing nearly Dh4.5 billion in innovation and infrastructure projects as part of its efforts to diversify sources of income and support the UAE economy.

Byat, also chairman of Du, said the UAE is seeking to become a world communication and information exchange centre.

“The UAE already has one of the strongest telecommunication sectors in the world, with growth in this sector reaching 35 per cent last year. The UAE also has the highest smartphone penetration rate, which stands at nearly 100 per cent,” he said.