Dubai has announced more concrete plans to implement the new initiative to make the emirate a global hub for the creative economy.
The Dubai CommerCity, part of the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) to offer a host of services to help establish new businesses in select creative economy sectors and support their long-term growth in Dubai CommerCity.
The services will include applying for a long-term cultural visa, a first-of-its-kind 10-year residency offered to creative talents.
The selected cultural and creative sectors covered in the MoU to operate in Dubai CommerCity are music, fine arts, photography, film and video production and video game development.
Fashion design, graphic design, product design, interior and landscape design, architectural services, advertising services and IT and software services are also part of the agreement.
The partnership will provide creative businesses with special incentives, including creative activities, logistics, consultation, banking solutions and services, and access to creative workspaces such as studios, conference rooms, and exhibitions.
Dr Mohammed Al Zarooni, executive chairman of DIEZ, said the agreement reflected the organization’s commitment to supporting all economic sectors in Dubai, including the creative economy.
“The cultural and creative sectors play a strategic role in the national economy, empowering businesses based on knowledge, innovation, and creativity,” he added.
The MoU is part of both organisations’ commitment to providing innovative services to help set up and develop new creative enterprises in Dubai.
It will also help attract highly creative companies, motivate them to establish branches in the emirate, and help them expand their operations across the Middle East and Gulf Cooperation Council.
The partnership is in line with the Dubai Creative Economy Strategy launched in 2021 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.
The strategy aims to double the creative industries’ contribution to Dubai’s GDP to five percent, increase the number of Dubai-based creative enterprises to 15,000, and provide 140,000 jobs in various creative economy sectors by 2026.
Dubai Culture develops mechanisms, strategies, legislative frameworks, regulations and policies to ensure the ease of doing business in the creative field through the authority’s partnerships with governmental, semi-governmental and private entities, experts and consultants, and representatives of the creative sector.
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