Dubai’s exports were valued at about Dh44bn from the third quarter of 2003 to the third quarter of 2004. The statistic forms part of a study released by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI).
Dubai is recognised as the third most active re-export centre in the world, after Singapore and Hong Kong, the DCCI report says.

 

The trading sector contributed an average of 85.2% of Dubai’s exports (this includes re-exports) during the period under review.

 

Manufacturing contributed about 9% on average during the same period.
The services sector represented 3.9%, while the construction sector represented just 0.6% of exports.

 

About 87% of export-oriented companies operating in Dubai are located in Dubai proper, while the remaining 13% are located in Dubai’s various free zones, the DCCI report claims.

 

This is based on DCCI’s certificate of origin database.
Free zone companies contributed 44.6% of total exports recorded, even though they are smaller in number than the total number of Dubai-based exporting companies.

 

Exporters located in Dubai proper represented 55.4% of total exports, despite their superior numbers.

 

The export share of the free zones declined from 50% in the third quarter of 2003 to 41% in the second quarter of 2004, the report says.
The majority of exporting companies employ less than 10 workers, the DCCI report says.

 

On average, these companies accounted for 58.6% of total exports.
Companies with between 50 and 249 employees accounted for 18.3% of exports.

 

Firms employing between 20 to 49 employees represented 10.3% of total exports.

 

These figures also refer to the period starting in the third quarter of 2003 and ending in the third quarter of 2004.

 

The number of exporting firms increased during the last four years, DCCI representatives say.