MARITIME LINKAGES
Every company featured on this page has played a crucial role in improving the performance, safety, and competitiveness of Dubai's maritime sector, making the Emirate and the UAE an influential force in the global trade sphere.
DMCA's initiatives aim to promote innovation as a cornerstone to enhance the competitiveness, attractiveness, and comprehensiveness of the maritime community and elevate Dubai to the ranks of the world's leading maritime capitals. The Dubai Maritime Virtual Cluster is a platform that embodies DMCA's commitment to instilling a culture of creativity and innovation as an integral part of a renewed, safe, and sustainable marine sector. The remarkable progress made by Dubai is not surprising, as it serves as a continuation of the path toward excellence to become number one in the world. DMCA's focus on innovation to advance infrastructure and legislation is paying off, as it ensures the highest standards of efficient maritime operations, occupational safety, and environmental practices. We are currently implementing an integrated and impactful portfolio of initiatives to enhance the sector's competitiveness and guarantee its contributions to the country's sustainable growth and economic diversification strategy.
We are focused on our customer value proposition: to deliver customized innovation and operational efficiency that enhances our clients' business and meets their specific objectives. In order to make its customer product and service offering more efficient and effective, DMC was merged with DP World UAE, with the exception of the shipyard and repair services, which will merge into the Dubai Drydocks World's portfolio. Dubai hosts the largest single-company operated port in the world, and vessels require maintenance and refits that can be provided within the group. Our yard benefits from demand created within the group. We assess opportunities across our teams and decide where certain opportunities fit best from both an execution and strategic perspective. Currently, the Drydocks World yard is constructing the first IMO Tier-III-compliant tug in the Mediterranean for P&O Reyser in the Port of Barcelona. We have a large network of stakeholders, vendors, and subcontractors that support each business in the maritime services division.
Disruption is one of the five pillars of our strategy, and we continue to challenge the status quo and innovate. Currently, we are digitalizing our ships through onboard IoT to measure a ship's health in real time and manage fleet maintenance effectively. Moreover, we will soon have the capability, using our proprietary software, of providing our customers with a dashboard to monitor the status of our services in real time. This is only the beginning; we look forward to further enhancing our utilization and integration of IoT and advanced data analytics. It is with this disruption mindset that we are digitalizing our entire fleet both to reduce costs and increase revenue—ensuring we surpass the standards of a true 21st-century company.
We approach innovation and technology in a number of ways. First, our current vision is to become the global integrator of container logistics. That is our response to a changing industry wherein customers want more end-to-end solutions and a more managed service and product. Our website is one of the largest B2B sites, with over 35,000 daily users transacting 20,000 bookings. This online booking management is, for our industry, a step forward. We have also automated our customer quotations. In addition, we are working hard to bring innovative ocean products to our customers. For example, we have an online product that allows for an instant quotation, instant booking, and guaranteed space on a pre-defined vessel. We are witnessing significant volumes for this product, with the uptake developing much faster than we originally planned. Finally, I will mention TradeLens, an open and neutral industry platform built on blockchain technology with IBM.
MARITIME LINKAGES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Interview
Hatem Sleiman, Regional Vice-President, Head of Network, Middle East and South Asia, Western Union
Technology, globalization, and migration will ensure that no matter the nationalization policies carried out by regional governments, the remittance spout is unlikely to dry up any time soon.
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Hamdan AlShamsi, Senior Partner, Hamdan AlShamsi Lawyers & Legal Consultants
With the expected increase of business in the region, Hamdan AlShamsi Lawyers & Legal Consultants stands ready to assist new or current businesses with the implementation of ideas and the protection of IP.
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Marwan Bin Haidar, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)
Through its digital arm, DEWA seeks to disrupt the entire business of public utilities by becoming the world's first digital utility to use autonomous systems for renewable energy and storage.
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Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman & CEO, Dubai Duty Free (DDF)
One of the leading airport retailers in the world, DDF currently operates some 40,000sqm of retail space at Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport, reporting sales over USD2.029 billion in 2019.
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Will Goodwin, Managing Director, The Priory Group
Social media can lead to living a virtual life, with limited face-to-face interaction, avoidance, and often misconstrued reality. This may lead to mental health-related issues such as depression, loss of individual value, low confidence, and anxiety.
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Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Former Minister of Economy,
The ministry's way forward is to spur more international collaboration, whether inside the country through FDI flows and encouraging foreign entrepeneurship or outside the country through China's highly-valued Belt and Road Initiative.
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Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, Director General, Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority (DAFZA)
In addition to pursuing an aggressively innovative trade and industrial policy, DAFZA is working behind the scenes to boost Dubai's role as the world's most dynamic hub for global halal services.
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