Dubai has revealed more specific plans for putting into action the new strategy to turn the city into a major center for the creative economy.
The Dubai CommerCity, a division of the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ), and the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide a range of services to support the establishment of new businesses in specific creative economy sectors and their long-term growth in the Dubai CommerCity.
The services will involve submitting an application for a long-term cultural visa, a unique 10-year residency programme for artists. Music, visual arts, photography, film and video production, and video game development are some of the cultural and creative industries that are specifically mentioned in the MoU to operate in Dubai Commercial City.
Additionally included by the agreement are fashion design, graphic design, product design, interior and landscape design, architectural services, advertising services, and IT and software services. Through the agreement, creative firms will receive particular benefits, including access to studios, meeting rooms, exhibition spaces, logistics, consultancy, financial solutions, and creative activities.
The deal, according to Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, executive chairman of DIEZ, demonstrated the group’s dedication to assisting all economic sectors in Dubai, including the creative economy.
In the national economy, “the cultural and creative industries play a vital role, empowering firms based on knowledge, innovation, and creativity,” he continued.
The MoU is a component of both organizations’ dedication to offering cutting-edge services to support the establishment and growth of new creative firms in Dubai.
Additionally, it will encourage innovative businesses to open branches in the emirate and aid their expansion throughout the Middle East and Gulf Cooperation Council. The relationship is in keeping with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Dubai Creative Economy Strategy, which he introduced in 2021 as vice president, prime minister, and ruler of Dubai.
By 2026, the strategy hopes to create 140,000 jobs across a variety of creative economy sectors, double the creative industries’ GDP contribution to 5%, and have 15,000 creative firms established in Dubai.