Dubai ranks fifth globally in the International Shipping Centre Development Index

Dubai has remained among the world’s top five destinations for the maritime industry in the latest International Shipping Centre Development (ISCD) Index.

For the fourth consecutive year, Dubai occupied fifth place among the 20 most powerful international centers for maritime commercial shipping.

According to the ISCD Index report for 2021, Singapore, London, Shanghai and Hong Kong were the top four centres for global freight.

#Dubai ranks first in the Arab world and fifth globally in the International Shipping Centre Development Index (ISCD) 2021. pic.twitter.com/E5d5FWEhp3

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) September 7, 2021

Dubai as a hub for maritime shipping and logistics was ranked ahead of key destinations including Rotterdam, Hamburg, Athens/Piraeus, New York/New Jersey and Ningbo/Zhoushan. Dubai ranked first among all other Arab destinations as well.

The ranking was revealed in a report that was issued by Baltic Exchange, and Xinhua, a London-based international news agency affiliated with the China Economic Information Service, CEIS.

The Index evaluates the competitiveness of attracting maritime businesses and the extent of development in maritime centres around the world. Additionally, it evaluates their impact in advancing the growth of the global shipping sector.

The Index also evaluates government transparency within each country on the list, while also taking into account the ease of doing business, the performance of logistics services and capabilities of the departments and e-governments of the countries.

There are three primary indicators that are evaluated by the Index, and these are port infrastructure, shipping services and general environment. There are also 16 secondary indicators that it takes into account to assess the overall performance of 43 cities around the world that provide port and shipping business services.

These secondary factors include the rate of transporting dry and liquid cargo, the number of cranes, the capacity of containers and the port draughts, the number of shipping services provided by the countries, such as shipping brokerage, shipping engineering, shipping business and shipping financing, as well as maritime legal services and customs tariff for shipping.

Dubai’s foreign trade in Q1 2021 touched Dhs354.4bn, growing 10 per cent from Dhs323bn in the corresponding period in 2020, and up 5 per cent compared to Q1 2019. Its sea trade during that period reached Dhs120bn, recording an increase of 3 per cent.

Read: Dubai’s non-oil external trade grows to Dhs354bn in Q1 2021