Here’s what Dubai’s ambitious D33 agenda aims to achieve

The recently launched Dubai Economic Agenda ‘D33’ is aimed at making Dubai the “world’s best city to live and work in”. The value of the total targets set by the agenda is Dhs32tn by 2033.

Read: Sheikh Mohammed launches Dubai Economic Agenda, ‘D33’ aims to double size of economy in 10 years

The agenda aims to accelerate growth by investing in human development, skillsets and advanced technology, while consolidating Dubai’s global competitiveness, innovation and knowledge-based economy.

It will invest in enhancing the advantages gained from Dubai’s strategic location and its advanced infrastructure to raise the city’s status as a preferred destination for major international companies and investments.

The Dubai Economic Agenda D33 includes 100 transformative projects, with economic targets of AED32 trillion dirhams over the next 10 years, doubling our foreign trade to reach AED25.6 trillion and adding 400 cities as key trading partners over the next decade. pic.twitter.com/lTe159ZIhS

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) January 4, 2023

The following are D33’s key goals, priorities and projects:

Ambitious goals

• D33 aims to raise the total value of foreign trade in goods and services from Dhs14.2tn in the past 10 years to Dhs25.6tn in the next decade.
• The agenda will help raise the contribution of FDI to Dubai’s economy from an average of Dhs32bn annually in the past decade, to an average of Dhs60bn annually in the next decade to reach a total of Dhs650bn over the next 10 years.
• It will see a growth in government expenditures from Dhs512bn in the past decade to Dhs700bn in the next decade, with increased investment in future growth sectors and further development of traditional trade and economic sectors.
• D33 will raise the competitiveness of the city’s business sector, which will enable the increase of private sector investment from Dhs790bn in the past decade to Dhs1tn by 2033.
• It also aims to increase the value of domestic demand of goods and services from Dhs2.2tn in the past decade to Dhs3tn in the coming decade, in line with Dubai’s vision for a diversified economy.
• Other objectives include generating new economic value from digital transformation, at an average of Dhs100bn annually.

Top priorities over the next 10 years

• The agenda is focused on a set of key priorities for the next decade, including raising the value added of the industrial sector and promoting export growth, contributing to sustainable economic growth, and achieving self-sufficiency in a number of key sectors and industries, including manufacturing.
• Other key priorities include making Dubai one of the five leading logistic hubs in the world, and one of the top four global financial centres. The agenda also seeks to increase the productivity of Dubai’s economy by 50 per cent through innovation and digital solutions.
• Moreover, the agenda aims to integrate new generations of Emiratis into the private sector, making Dubai a hub for skilled workers, the fastest growing and most attractive global business centre, and an international hub for global multinational companies and national SMEs.
• Another key priority is to make Dubai one of the top three international destinations for tourism and business by providing a globally competitive environment for business sustainability and driving down the cost of doing business across a number of sectors.

Initial projects

• D33 seeks to add 400 cities as key trade partners and launch the Dubai Economic Corridors 2033 initiative, which will enhance existing foreign trade relations with Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.
• It will include a programme to support the growth of 30 companies in new sectors to become global unicorns, and integrate 65,000 young Emiratis into the workforce and the private sector. The Dubai Traders Project (DT33) will support Dubai traders in various major growth sectors.
• The first set of projects includes the Dubai Unified License that will provide a unique commercial identity for all companies across economic zones, and ‘Sandbox Dubai’, which aims to make Dubai a major hub for incubating business innovation by enabling the testing and marketing of new products and technologies.
• D33 also includes the launch of the Dubai Project to attract the world’s best universities, as part of the broader aim of making Dubai a leading global hub for higher education, and a programme to promote the growth of SMEs by identifying 400 high-potential companies and supporting their capacity-building and global expansion.