Business & Money | Sunday 17 May, 2015 12:00 am |

Dubai International Financial Centre welcomes Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister, seeks to boost bilateral synergies between the UAE and Republic of Kazakhstan across key sectors
His Excellency Essa Kazim, Governor of Dubai International Financial Centre, welcomed Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov and a high-profile business delegation to the centre in a bid to boost bilateral trade between the UAE and the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Prime Minister of Kazakhstan’s visit came as part of the country’s efforts to gain best practices in establishing a robust financial hub from leading commercial and financial centres worldwide. The visit gains significance with Kazakhstan aiming to set up a central financial hub in the capital city of Astana. The ministerial delegation to DIFC also sought to build on the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between DIFC and the National Bank of Kazakhstan earlier last week.
Welcoming the delegation, His Excellency Essa Kazim said: “I commend the Kazakhstan Government on its successful dialogue and negotiations with nations of the world towards shaping a global financial hub in Kazakhstan. I believe UAE-Kazakh bilateral trade and investment ties have significant unrealised potential given the synergies that already exist between the two countries. We would like to reiterate that DIFC remains committed to further deepening and diversifying our bilateral engagement in the years to come.”
Essa Kazim added: “DIFC is a jurisdiction with internationally recognised regulations that offers a favourable system of taxation and enabling business environment to facilitate ease of establishing businesses. Based on these key factors and our strength in serving as the strategic gateway to emerging markets, we believe DIFC can and will become the preferred financial destination of choice for the UAE and wider region.”
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About Dubai International Financial Centre
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is the financial hub for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, providing a world-class platform connecting the region’s markets with the economies of Europe, Asia and the Americas. It also facilitates the growth in South-South trade and investment. An onshore, international financial centre, DIFC provides a stable, mature and secure base for financial institutions to develop their wholesale businesses.
The Centre offers all the elements found in the world’s most successful financial industry ecosystems, including an independent regulator, an independent judicial system with a common-law framework, a global financial exchange, inspiring architecture, powerful, enabling support services and a vibrant business community. The infrastructure within the district features ultra-modern office space, retail outlets, cafes and restaurants, art galleries, residential apartments, public green areas and hotels.
Located midway between the global financial centres of London in the West and Singapore in the East, DIFC (GMT +4) fills a vital time-zone gap with a workday that bridges the market and business hours of financial centres in both Asia and North America.
Currently, more than 1,225 active registered companies operate from the Centre, including 21 of the world’s top 25 banks, 11 of the world’s top 20 money managers, 7 of the top 10 insurance companies, and 9 of the top 10 law firms. Nearly 18,000 people work in the Centre.
DIFC continues to pursue expansion into new services and sectors within the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region, an area comprising over 72 countries with an approximate population of 2.8 billion and nominal GDP of US$ 6.9 trillion.
For further information, please visit our website: www.difc.ae, or follow us on Twitter @DIFC.