Department of Economic Development in Dubai launches initiatives to enhance future-readiness of economy

Dubai: The Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai launched three quality initiatives on Wednesday aimed to accelerate future-readiness of the economy.

These initiatives launched on the sidelines of the third Engage DXB Forum 2019 are aimed at enhancing private sector participation in developing a competitive policy framework for achieving sustainable business growth.

The three initiatives are: an updated version of the EngageDXB app designed to serve as a communication platform for all businesses registered in DED and the free zones in Dubai; a Future Readiness Study, aimed to assess the impact of global mega trends on business in Dubai; and the Future Economy Lab, a partnership platform aimed at developing learning and creative thinking on the future direction of economy within the public and private sectors and academia.

The Engage DXB Forum, held under the theme ‘Engage, Foresight, Collaborate,’ brought together over 300 stakeholders including representatives of business councils and groups in Dubai and government decision-makers, as well as academia.

The new initiatives were designed and developed based on public and private sector feedback and extensive research and benchmarking, with the objective of supporting businesses to keep up with the latest economic trends and prepare for the future in parallel with the government strategy in Dubai.

“The Engage DXB Forum is a strategic event through which the Department of Economic Development seeks to add new value by establishing a strategic relationship between the government and private sector to facilitate business processes and enable the two sectors to work closer together towards optimising investments, sustainability, and future-readiness,” said Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of DED.

The Forum is a valuable learning experience for companies and the business community in their efforts to develop their business, by bringing together the government, private sector and academia to provide new information, feedback and ideas on competitiveness and sustainability, Al Qamzi added.

Addressing the Forum, Engineer Mohammad Ahmad Al Shehhi, Undersecretary for Economic Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Economy, and Abdullah Al Basti, Secretary General at the General Secretariate of the Executive Council in Dubai, provided an overview of the policy reforms and incentives being introduced federally and locally. The impact of the reforms and incentives on supporting businesses to go past obstacles and facilitating projects in Dubai was also discussed.

DED initiatives

EngageDXB app:

The app was earlier limited to business groups and councils, now serve all registered businesses in Dubai, enabling them to communicate with government officials and access a wide variety of services. “Businesses can receive updates on policies and announcements as well as propose innovative ideas and suggestions on facilitating business and accelerating economic growth through the app,” said Mohammad Shaal Al Saadi, CEO of the Corporate Strategic Affairs sector in DED

Mega trends

As part of the Future Readiness Study, 164 mega trends were evaluated to see their impact on industries worldwide and how governments are adapting towards the future. The study also examined how global trends will influence 14 major sectors in Dubai and identified more than 100 initiatives that could be deployed across five future themes.

Future Economy Lab

The Lab is part of DED’s efforts to identify the key challenges facing the business sector and to seize opportunities that contribute to our government’s vision of transforming Dubai into a future economy.