Maktoum bin Mohammed Reviews 2024 Achievements and Future Plans of Dubai Securities

Photo : Dubai Government Media Office

His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance of the UAE, and Chairman of the Dubai Securities and Exchange Higher Committee, held an important meeting. The meeting was to talk about the big successes of 2024 and the plans to make Dubai even better as a world financial center.

Sheikh Maktoum said that the committee’s work is following the ideas of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Sheikh Mohammed wants Dubai to become one of the top four financial cities in the world. This goal is part of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, which focuses on making Dubai a leader in finance and trade.

Sheikh Maktoum praised the committee for working hard and using smart ideas to keep Dubai ahead. He said Dubai’s success in the financial markets shows that it is a leader in finance and a great place for people to invest their money. He added that these successes are because the leaders of Dubai are always working to grow the economy, create new opportunities, and make sure Dubai stays strong for the future.

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During the meeting, Sheikh Maktoum talked about how well the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) has done this year. He shared details about three big IPOs (Initial Public Offerings): Parkin, Spinneys, and Talabat. Talabat was the biggest private-sector IPO in the UAE this year. These IPOs show that many companies trust Dubai to raise money by listing on the stock market. Since this committee was created, Dubai has had 10 IPOs that brought in AED 43 billion and attracted AED 1.2 trillion in demand.

Sheikh Maktoum also spoke about how the DFM General Index performed better than all other markets in the region for the second year in a row. The index grew by 19% in 2024. The total value of the market more than doubled, going from AED 394 billion in 2022 to AED 801 billion by December 2024.

A lot of this success is because of international investors. These investors made up 47% of the trading on the DFM. In 2024, over 132,000 new investors joined the market, and 85% of them were from outside the UAE. Many of these new investors came from countries in the Asia-Pacific region, which shows that Dubai is becoming popular worldwide.

Nasdaq Dubai also did very well this year. It became the number one place in the world for Sukuk listings. Sukuk are special types of Islamic financial instruments. Nasdaq Dubai also ranked first in the region for bonds and other debt instruments. It had 51 Sukuk and bond listings worth AED 360 billion. The total value of all its fixed-income securities reached AED 528 billion. Many of these listings came from countries like China, Indonesia, Turkey, and the Philippines.

The meeting also included updates about the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). VARA is working to make Dubai a leader in virtual assets like cryptocurrencies. It is building better systems and making sure Dubai is a safe place for companies and people to use virtual assets. Dubai wants to stay ahead in this new and growing industry.

The committee has also made other changes to improve Dubai’s financial system. These include creating a team to enforce financial market laws, setting up a special court to solve disputes about securities, and giving incentives to local companies listed on the stock market.

Sheikh Maktoum talked about some new projects started by the committee. These include the xCube market maker and trading app, green bonds and Sukuk worth $27 billion, a pilot project for carbon credit trading, and a program to help companies go public faster and more easily.

Sheikh Maktoum said Dubai needs to keep improving and finding new ways to grow. He believes these projects will help Dubai remain one of the best places in the world for finance and investment. The committee’s work is very important to making Dubai a strong and trusted place for business and money.