Launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 aims to double the size of Dubai’s economy and establish it as one of the top three global cities within the next decade.
“The Dubai Economic Agenda ‘D33’ includes 100 transformative projects, with economic targets of AED32 trillion 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,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
D33: 100 transformational projects, 6 key objectives
The ambitious agenda includes 100 transformative projects with economic targets of AED32 trillion over the next 10 years.
As per the official UAE website, the first package of transformational projects for the next decade includes:
- Doubling the size of Dubai’s Foreign trade and adding 400 cities to Dubai’s foreign trade map
- Launching Dubai’s plan for green and sustainable manufacturing
- Launching Dubai’s Future Economic Corridors 2033 with Africa, Latin America, South East Asia
- Launching a scale-up programme for 30 companies to become global unicorns in new economic sectors
- Integrating 65,000 young Emiratis into the job market
- Launching Dubai Traders project to empower the new generation of traders in key sectors
- Launching Dubai’s unified licence as a unique commercial identity for all companies all over Dubai
- Launching ‘Sandbox Dubai’ to allow testing and commercialisation of new technologies and making Dubai a major innovation hub
- Launching a programme to attract the world’s best universities, making Dubai a global pioneering hub for higher education
- Developing a Small and Medium Enterprises scale-up programme by identifying 400 high-potential companies, supporting their capacity building, and supporting them to grow globally.
As for objectives, the D33 agenda seeks to double foreign trade to AED25.6 trillion, add 400 cities as key trading partners, and increase foreign direct investment to AED650 billion.
The agenda also aims to position Dubai as a top global financial center, with increased focus on digital transformation.
Sheikh Mohammed envisions Dubai as the most important global business center by 2033, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the city’s foundation.
The agenda will drive sustainable economic growth through investments in human development, advanced technology, and enhancing Dubai’s global competitiveness.
It aims to raise the city’s total value of foreign trade to AED25.6 trillion and increase the contribution of foreign direct investment to AED650 billion over the next decade.
The agenda will also focus on increasing government expenditures, private sector investment, and the value of domestic demand. It aims to generate AED100 billion annually through digital transformation and prioritise key sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, and finance.
Additionally, the agenda seeks to integrate Emiratis into the private sector, enhance Dubai’s position as a tourism and business destination, and establish the city as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.
The first set of projects includes expanding trade relations, supporting the growth of companies in new sectors, empowering young Emiratis, and attracting leading universities to Dubai.
D33 strategy gives the private and public sector to achieve, says DCTCM chief
Recently at the Dubai Business Forum which took place on November 1 and 2, Issam Abdulrahim Kazim, the chief executive officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM) said these agendas were set in place as part of Sheikh Mohammed’s vision of establishing Dubai as the world’s top 3 destinations to visit, work, live, do business, and more.
“The visionary leadership of Sheikh Mohammed and the way that he maps things out for Dubai, doesn’t happen by chance. Everything has a clear-cut plan, everything has a clear vision and a strategy that sits behind it, and the core essence of all of that is the way that he has managed to bring the private and public sector to work together seamlessly,” Kazim explained, adding that the D33 agenda will further push this vision forward.
When asked about receiving competition from other countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kazim said that competition is “not new.”
“As I mentioned before, what has really helped us [Dubai] is the fact that we have constantly had strategies that are clearly communicated and mapped out. The D33 strategy gives the private and public sector things took look forward to and achieve. Dubai also has other plans such as the Dubai 2040 Urban Masterplan, the UAE Centennial Plan 2071. It [Dubai] is very different the way that the city works and thinks – it is almost like a startup and it is embedded within us to remain agile and think like a start-up,” Kazim said, adding that competition is always “helpful.”
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