Tawfique Abdullah

The DMCC will also enjoy a prime location in uptown Dubai, and occupy the strip of land directly opposite the Dubai Marina on the other side of the highway. Access will be from the same roundabout as the Emirates Golf Course, although a new highway interchange, No5.5, is part of the project.

Leading this massive project is self-effacing chief executive officer Tawfique Abdullah, a Dubai businessman with long experience of the local gold and jewellery industry.

'The trading of gold through Dubai has a long history,' he explains. 'But we started the DMCC with a new concept, and that is to participate in every aspect of the value chain of gold and jewellery manufacturing and trading from the refinery process right through to trading of finished goods and contracts.

'There is no other hub like this in the region, although internationally there are many cities that focus on the industry. So the DMCC needed to combine reasonable transportation and shipping costs with the right infrastructure to attract this industry to Dubai.

'We were able to agree preferential rates for shipping with Emirates Airline quite quickly, and that left the creation of the right infrastructure for the DMCC. Dubai already has the right customs and other transport facilities'.

Mr. Abdullah splits the infrastructure development of the project down into three distinct phases which are aligned with the value chain of the DMCC itself.

Phase one saw the signing of major refinery contracts seven months ago under which major firms have agreed to build an environmentally-friendly refinery complex at the DMCC. Gold smelting is particularly careful about emissions, not least because gold dust may go up the chimney.

The second phase is still in progress and involves the sale of freehold manufacturing units to jewellery firms. So far 75% of the first release of units has been sold, mainly to foreign rather than UAE investors.

'We talked extensively to the firms, which are almost all families, to discover exactly what they required and came up with a pretty unique package of freehold units,' says Mr. Abdullah. 'There is 100% foreign ownership, a 50-year tax holiday, and all the normal advantages of a Dubai free zone.

'What the DMCC also offers is access to a huge consumer market for the manufacturers with easy transportation to a very large region.'

Phase three of the DMCC is the trading part of the free zone. 'This is done in offices rather than manufacturing units,' explains Mr. Abdullah. 'We will be building a landmark tower with offices dedicated to this trade with all the support services and finance in one place.

'The trading centre will be split into: physical commodities, diamonds and precious stones, and gold and precious metals. We are not going to create a commodities exchange but we do want to create a market in Dubai Commodity Receipts.'

Mr. Abdullah says phase three of the DMCC project will be launched this autumn, and that by 2005 the whole free zone will be completed and up and running.

At the end of July the leading Antwerp diamond firm AMC announced its intention to make the DMCC its regional hub. It seems Dubai has hit another successful free zone concept and development from here will be at a frightening speed.