The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (‘DMCC’), announced on Wednesday its plans to build the tallest commercial tower in the world as part of its expansion plans designed specifically for large multi-nationals.
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of DMCC, said,”When we announced the plans to build Almas Tower in 2002, the Middle East’s tallest commercial tower and DMCC’s headquarters, the entire office space across 63 floors sold out to DMCC end users, mostly in the diamond business, in just a few hours. The world’s tallest commercial tower and the DMCC Business Park are the next natural steps to ensure we continue to welcome companies to the free zone as demand grows – particularly large regional corporations and multi-nationals – in the near future. The initiative is designed to further strengthen Dubai’s position as the global hub for commodities trade and enterprise. Over the past four years DMCC has attracted more than 4,000 new companies to the Free Zone – 90% of which are new to Dubai. In 2013 we have accelerated this growth, with an average of 200 new companies joining DMCC every single month. This increased demand further demonstrates not only the confidence in DMCC and Dubai, but also underlines the need for new commercial space.”
Currently in the concept design phase, the DMCC Business Park and the world’s tallest commercial tower will cater to large corporations and multi-nationals that require significant floor space to buy or rent. The Business Park will comprise of 107,000 square metres of premium commercial and retail space.
Today, almost 7,000 members from start-ups to multi-nationals operate from the DMCC Free Zone. To confirm its confidence in the Free Zone’s future growth, DMCC made a public commitment in early 2011 that it would reach 7,200 member companies by the end of 2013, a target that is expected to be reached in the very near future.
In 2005, DMCC launched a ground breaking gold Sukuk, raising US$ 200 million to help finance the construction of its commercial towers. At the time, the Sukuk was assigned an “A” long-term and “A-1” short-term rating by Standard & Poor’s Rating Services and was oversubscribed. The Sukuk allowed investors to receive payment denominated in gold bullion as an alternative to US dollars. Despite the onset of the global financial crisis, the Sukuk was repaid fully and on time.
With 65 mixed-use commercial and residential towers and over 180 retail outlets in operation, there are currently over 65,000 people working and living within the development. On average, DMCC welcomes over 200 companies per month to its Free Zone, more than 6 companies per day – over 90% of which are new to Dubai.