At this time, Dubai Holding has belongings value Dh130 billion unfold throughout greater than a dozen nations, however when the corporate was based in October 2004, it operated from “rented workplaces with used furnishings” and what its former chairman described as “a small mortgage”.
“After we first began, we confronted a difficult scenario as we solely had one distant piece of land in Dubai and solely a mortgage of Dh200 million. At this time, the Group’s belongings throughout varied sectors exceed Dh100 billion,” Mohammad Abdulla AlGergawi mentioned in a 2017 assertion when he stepped down from his publish as chairman of Dubai Holding.
The beginnings of Dubai Holding are strongly linked to the emirate’s methods to place itself as a world enterprise and tourism hub. Its institution marked a brand new chapter in Dubai’s financial system and its penchant for groundbreaking initiatives.
The conglomerate is energetic in varied sectors, together with hospitality, actual property, asset administration, leisure and investments. It’s the private enterprise portfolio of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, with Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed as its present chairman.
Dubai Holding is behind most of the emirate’s most essential properties. One of many first initiatives it launched was Madinat Jumeirah, which opened in 2004. The five-star resort is designed to be harking back to an Arabic village. It incorporates a handful of inns and dozens of eating places all through its sprawling beachfront location. It’s also a recurring venue for the annual Artwork Dubai pageant.
In some ways, the resort was an announcement by Dubai Holding of its intention to contribute to the town’s improvement as a enterprise and tourism vacation spot. Within the two years that adopted, the group launched Dubai Studio Metropolis, Dubai Worldwide Tutorial Metropolis, du and Emirates Worldwide Telecommunications (EIT), which invests in telecom corporations around the globe.
Dubai Holding additionally took on a number of present initiatives, together with Dubai Media Metropolis and Dubai Web Metropolis, each of which had been crucial to the event of the emirate’s media sector.
“Dubai developed from a metropolis with one tv station to a world media middle, attracting greater than 2,000 media organizations and 33,000 media specialists, working and residing in Dubai Media Metropolis and reworking Dubai into the content material creation capital of the world. area,” Mr AlGergawi mentioned in 2017.
The Tecom Group, a subsidiary of Dubai Holding, was established in 2005 to handle present enterprise districts and develop new ones along with the Authorities of Dubai. Tecom can also be behind Dubai Design District and Dubai Industrial Metropolis. Though Tecom went public in 2022, Dubai Holding stays a stakeholder.
The emirate’s enterprise districts turned blueprints for a number of worldwide developments underneath the Dubai Holding umbrella, together with SmartCity Kochi in India and SmartCity Malta.
Investments and joint ventures underneath the Dubai Holding portfolio embrace Dubai Hills Property, du, Rove Lodges and Dubai Waste Administration Centre.
Initiatives underneath Meraas Holding and Merex Funding (a three way partnership with Brookfield Asset Administration) additionally partly fall underneath the umbrella of Dubai Holding. These embrace Metropolis Stroll, La Mer and Bluewaters Island.
Dubai Holding additionally owns the manufacturers underneath the Jumeirah Lodges group, equivalent to Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah Seashore Resort, Hatta Wadi Hub, in addition to inns overseas, together with Jumeirah Himalayas Resort and Jumeirah Guangzhou.
Dubai Holding has a number of well-known developments underneath its leisure division. World Village, Ain Dubai, Dubai Parks and Resorts, Roxy Cinemas and Wild Wadi are all a part of the conglomerate, together with radio stations equivalent to Dubai 92, Dubai Eye and Virgin Radio.
On the time of Mr AlGergawi’s departure from Dubai Holding, Sheikh Mohammed expressed his appreciation for the previous chairman’s efforts to spice up Dubai Holding, saying: “Dubai Holding has added actual worth to our nationwide financial system.”
Up to date: October 6, 2023, 6:02 PM
