Dubai, City of the Future, is Deepening Business Ties with Miami and Florida
When Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’ visited Dubai in March 2022, he signed a sister city agreement with HE Abdulla Al Basti, Secretary-General of The Executive Council of Dubai, strengthening business and trade ties between two of the world’s leading global hubs. In 2023 the British weekly magazine The Economist ranked Dubai #3 in the Top 10 Index of Prominent Global Cities, with Miami crowned #1, and Singapore #2.
MIAMI AND DUBAI'S GROWING RELATIONSHIP
Today Dubai and Miami are deepening their business, trade, and investment ties, with both cities vying to create a model city of the future that grows, develops, and expands as an urban prototype of excellence.
Dubai has long been considered a city of the future for its ultramodern skyline, its iconic architecture (Burj Khalifa is the tallest skyscraper in the world), the super functional Dubai International Airport (DXB), the new mega-airport Al Maktoum International in Dubai World Central (DWC), and Palm Jumeirah, an archipelago of artificial islands with high-end residences.
Oil today represents only 1 percent of Dubai’s GDP compared to more than 50 percent prior to 2000, replaced with tourism, real estate, business parks, and special economic zones which offer incentives for companies that focus on areas such as biotechnology, space, AI, robotics, desalination, genetic research, medical tourism, the future of farming, and renewable energy. Dubai, the most populous of the 7 emirates that make up the UAE, is a melting pot of over 200 nationalities. In 2023, the Global Destination Cities Index placed Dubai 2nd among the cities with the highest number of international visitors (15.9 million), second only to Paris (22.7 million).
The most recent report (2021) issued by the UAE Embassy in Washington, DC, highlighting trade between the U.S. and the UAE ranked Florida 6th among U.S. states and territories in exports to the UAE. Computers, electronic products, and transportation equipment were the largest export categories, followed by chemicals, primary metal, machinery, F&B, tobacco, and fabricated metal products. The report also stated that more than 8,700 jobs were directly created by trade with UAE.
In terms of FDI, Emirati companies in Florida invested in a variety of sectors including transportation (Jetex Flight Support), aerospace (Titan Aviation StandardAero), software & IT services (SmartStream Technologies, Distichain, Icflix), real estate (Sternnon Group), consumer products (Harding Brothers Holdings), food & tobacco (Hot Brands International), business services (Palm Aviation), and leisure & entertainment (Tussauds Group).
ACCELERATING TRADE BETWEEN MIAMI AND DUBAI
Trade between Dubai and the UAE, and Miami and Florida, is also accelerating; UAE is now Florida’s largest trade partner in the Middle East. For South Florida (Miami Customs District), total trade with the UAE reached $1.3 billion in 2023, up from $982M in 2022, split between $1.12B in exports and $198M in imports.
Miami’s trade with Dubai is a two-way street with huge potential: Dubai is the strategic entry point to the MENA region (Middle East North Africa) and the preferred gateway to markets in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh), while Miami is the strategic entry point to the U.S. market and the preferred gateway to markets in Latin America and the Caribbean. In this context, it is important to note that it’s now possible for foreign investors and entrepreneurs who open a company in Dubai (or in the other six emirates of the UAE) to retain 100 percent of ownership and operate freely throughout the UAE.
Miami is connected to Dubai by a daily non-stop flight operated by Emirates. Like Miami, Dubai is a “hub and spoke” model connecting 11 U.S. airports to airports across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The daily Emirates flight from Dubai to Miami now continues to Bogota as a tag-on. This new flight provides another link for UAE investors considering Miami as the strategic springboard for business and trade with nearby Latin American markets.
Antonio Acunzo is CEO Co-founder of MTW GROUP-Doing Business Beyond, an international business advisory company based in Miami and working with SMEs and Mid-Market companies looking to expand in the U.S.A. and select Asian markets.
