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| Sunday, 17 February 2002 |
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Dubai opens capital market for regional investment DUBAI, Feb 16 (AFP) - Dubai opened an international financial center on Saturday to generate capital flow and investment in a region stretching from the Gulf and Africa to Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum told a press conference that the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) "will be the bridge between the financial markets of the East and those of the West." The center will "position Dubai on the global financial map as a recognised node for institutional finance," said Sheikh Mohammad, driving force behind Dubai's e-government initiative and its Internet and Media Cities. It will serve as a "gateway for the flow of capital to and from the region, thus strengthening the regional links to international capital markets and filling a void in the global services infrastructure," he said. Initial studies showed the market comprising the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Levant, North and East Africa, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent was worth one trillion dollars, DIFC chairman Anis al-Jallaf said. DIFC "will be a center like London, Frankfurt, Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo," Jallaf said, stressing it would not be competitive but complementary to those markets. "We are not creating another offshore unit, but a center at the same high financial level" as established international financial markets, he said, adding that the market was expected to be in business by the end of the 2002. |
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