Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy and Chairman of the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC) has announced that the Islamic economy generates 8.3 per cent of Dubai's GDP, according to the adopted measuring indices of the Dubai Statistics Centre, a strategic partner of DIEDC. These indices were applied to three major sectors, namely: Islamic finance, manufacturing and trade.
"The contribution of the Islamic economy to Dubai's GDP increased from 7.6 per cent in 2014 to 8.3 per cent in 2016, registering a growth rate of 14 per cent. In 2016, Islamic economy sectors contributed Dh32.77 billion, compared to Dh32.21 billion in 2015 and Dh28.78 billion in 2014," Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy and Chairman of DIEDC, said while chairing the second meeting of DIEDC's Board of Directors this year.
He underlined: "These results speak volumes not only in terms of the development of the Islamic economy in Dubai, but also the success of the UAE's sustainable development drive as part of its post-oil economy vision. We are keen to boost productive sectors and develop strategies that encourage responsible investment, entrepreneurship and innovation."
Al Mansouri stressed that the success of the Initiative of the Dubai The Capital of Islamic Economy was explicit only one year after launching the vision of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. He stated: "Activities of the Islamic economy in 2015 witnessed high contributions and amounted to Dh 32.21 billion."
He added: "Our goal to achieve higher percentages of the Islamic economy sectors contribution to Dubai's 2021 GDP is not far-fetched as long as we are firmly implementing our future strategy as per the preset schedule in cooperation with our local and international partners. Indisputably, by 2021 Dubai will be among the first top three countries in all global indicators of the Islamic economy."
Al Mansouri considers the increased contribution of the Islamic economy to the GDP has been supported by two key elements. The first one is direct and related to the growth of key Sharia-compliant sectors under the growing confidence in Dubai and UAE as global reference of the Islamic economy activities. The second one is indirect and related to and the impact of the Islamic economy culture on conventional sectors and greater awareness of the focus of Islamic economic standards on achieving sustainable development and this lead to increase the volume of attracting investors to this system.
Exporting the Model
Presenting an overview of DIEDC's strategic updates for the first quarter of 2018, Essa Kazim, Secretary General of DIEDC, said: "Most of the initiatives we have designed in collaboration with our strategic partners are well on track. The first quarter witnessed concerted efforts to establish Dubai as a global benchmark for innovation in the Islamic economy. Significant among these are the second edition of FinTech Hive and the launch of the Fiqh Forum, an international innovative platform for Islamic economy products, that represent pivotal steps in the development and globalization of Islamic economic standards."
Kazem pointed out: "DIEDC's most prominent achievements in the first quarter of 2018 were signing a number of cooperation agreements and MoUs that would export the model of "Dubai The Capital of Islamic Economy" to other countries looking to achieve sustainable financial stability and stimulate responsible investments in their markets to ensure achieving their development process consistent with the principles and standards that take into account the health and safety of human and environment as well as the society's safety and stability.
Accreditation Organizations
In an intervention in the International Forum of Halal Accreditation Organizations, Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar, Chief Executive Officer at DIEDC, said that the forum which seeks to consolidate accreditation practices among its members in order to reach a unified formula for multilateral recognition to facilitate the Halal trade among its members, did achieve an increase in the number of members to be 19 international organizations in 2017 compared to 10 organizations in 2016 and by the end of April 2018 the final number has gone higher to be 29 international organizations." He stressed: "This indicates that this initiative has been successful in attracting the markets featured by being the most productive of halal products with high export rates of Halal products worldwide at the top of which are UAS, Brazil, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand and markets with high spending on Halal products of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, primarily Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria."
Al Awar concluded by pointing out that coordination is underway with the strategic partners of the initiative to attract more accreditation organizations in other countries and work to consolidate Halal standards globally.