Dubai is located in the north
east of the United Arab Emirates
and is the country's principal commercial center, chief port and the capital of
the state of Dubai.
Dubai's economy
was built on the back of the oil industry, which developed rapidly after oil
was first struck in the mid 1960s. Dubai has changed dramatically over the last three
decades, becoming a major business center with a more dynamic and diversified economy.
Dubai enjoys a strategic location and serves as
the biggest re-exporting center in the Middle East.
The city now has thriving manufacturing, finance, information
technology, big choice of Dubai property and tourism sectors and is home to
numerous multinational companies such as AT&T, General Motors, Heinz, IBM,
Shell, and Sony.
The emirate of Dubai is strategically located between Africa and the
Middle East and between the Far East and Europe, making it a gateway to over
1.5 billion consumers located in countries surrounding the Red
Sea and the Gulf. It has a superb infrastructure with the
consequence that it has become a key link in the global transport and
distribution system.
The Dubai economy enjoys a competitive
combination of cost, market and environmental advantages that create an ideal
and attractive investment climate for local and expatriate businesses alike. In
fact, these advantages not only rank Dubai as the Arabian Gulfs leading
multi-purpose business center with luxury Dubai property and regional hub city, but they place it at
the forefront of the globes, dynamic and emerging market economies.
Dubai, with its ancient commercial and seafaring
traditions, has long been recognized as the Middle East
regions leading trading hub and has emerged as its key re-export center. In
more recent years, the Emirate has become a major venue for a number of
growing, profitable industries and activities:
Meetings, conferences, exhibitions
Tourism
Corporate regional headquarters
Regional transport, distribution and logistics center
Banking, finance and insurance
Business and industrial consulting
Real estate sector offering
various property in Dubai
Information and Communications Technology
Light and medium manufacturing
The manufacturing sector in Dubai is very healthy with some of the most
important industries including beverages, chemicals, paper, pharmaceuticals and
rubber. All the major international accountancy firms have offices in Dubai and the city is
also home to dozens of national and locally incorporated international banks.
In March 2000, the UAE's first stock exchange, the Dubai Financial Market was
opened. The tourist industry is the fastest growing sector within Dubai's economy. The
number of tourists visiting Dubai has increased
dramatically over the last 10 years and many of them make investments in Dubai property, especially with regards to visitors from Western Europe, and the government hopes to attract 10
million tourists a year by 2010. With this in mind, huge investment is being
made to develop the city's hotel, leisure and recreational infrastructure.
In Dubai
there are no personal taxes other than import duties (mostly at rates up to
10%), a 5% residential tax assessed on rental value, and a 5% tax on hotel
services and entertainment. Dubai's
enormous oil revenues mean that the government has no need to raise income
through direct taxation. Accordingly Dubai
is a "no tax" emirate characterized by an almost complete absence of
taxation. There are no withholding or capital taxes. With the exception of
banks and oil companies no corporate income tax is payable by businesses in Dubai. Oil companies pay
up to 55% tax on UAE sourced taxable income whereas banks pay 20% tax on
taxable income. The taxable income of banks is as per the audited financial
statements whereas that of oil companies is as per the concession agreement.
Oil companies also pay royalties on production.
After knowing this we can see that Dubai
economy growth was very rapid and many factors show that it will grow even more
in nearest future.
http://www.dubai.org.uk/