Dubai is on track to meet the target of more than quadrupling the contribution of its financial services to the emirates GDP.
Nasser Al Shaali, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFC), said the contribution of financial services to Dubai's GDP is currently running at $4bn (Dh14.69bn), or $11bn shy of the $15bn target by 2015.
"We are on target and we are growing gradually," Shaali told Emirates Business, adding that DIFC would be a major factor in achieving that goal.
Dubai wants to place itself firmly on the map as a financial services and capital markets hub, at par with well developed and highly regarded locations like London, New York and Hong Kong. This objective is part of the 2015 Dubai strategic plan of the Emirate's ruler, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The city is one step closer to achieving this status through the establishment of DIFC, which boasts world-class infrastructure and an international legal framework – and has already become home to almost 600 financial services companies that include 150 multinational corporations in the Global 500, including the Top 10.
Al Shaali said the centre aims to provide easy access to its service while adhering to its strict policies.
"We always hope that it will always be easier to get licence here than in other parts of the region, not in a sense that we have lower requirements but in a sense that we offer quick service," he said.
He added: "We are regulated by very high international standards so even if you're going to open a Starbucks in the centre, you have to submit a business plan. Strict screening process is for everybody but there aren't things like quotas and the unnecessary red tape. So they get all the services immediately from one window, everything from visa to licences. It's a one stop shop."
The DIFC has attracted most main investment banks to the bustling Gate building in central Dubai, becoming synonymous with the rise of regional investment banking.
But the DIFC's exchange, the DIFX, has failed to light up the world with poor levels of liquidity and few listings, analysts say.
Al Shaali, however, said growth is not slow considering that by the first half of this year, total trading volumes have already exceeded that of last year.