GOLD RUSH

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and CEO of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), has been with the sprawling free zone since it was established and has witnessed it grow to become the world's biggest physical gold market. While he's opening up to new trade, he's still betting big on the yellow metal

- JASON LASRADO

Ever since Dubai first emerged as a trading hub for gold, pearls, and textiles, among other things, back in the mid-twentieth century, the trading of commodities—raw materials or primary agricultural products—has become a vital element of its economy. As of May 2023, the emirate accounted for around 25% of the global gold trading market, with much of it coming from within the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC). The free zone has four operational gold refineries, with a fifth due to open this year. “We are literally the largest physical gold market in the world, and we’re going to continue to grow,” says Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and CEO of DMCC and the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX).

Having been with DMCC since it was formed in 2001, the chairman has been instrumental in making the free zone a key driver of trade and Dubai the commodity trading capital of the Middle East. Today, over 100,000 people live and work in the DMCC free zone master development of Jumeirah Lakes Towers in Dubai, a 200-hectare 87-tower business and residential community. In Q1 2023, 708 new companies registered in DMCC, a new record and an 8.4% increase compared to Q1 2022. Last year was the business district’s most successful ever, with 3,049 new business registrations, taking the total number of companies registered there to over 22,000. Roughly 10% of Dubai’s GDP flows through DMCC.