TWENTY-THREE international associations have established offices in Dubai since 2013, as a direct result of the support offered by the Dubai Association Centre (DAC), and are raising the number of meetings held in the emirate.
More than offering international associations keen on expanding across the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia a serviced office from which to conduct business, the DAC provides licensing and registration services, association management services through its partner MCI, and event planning services for meetings and conferences held in Dubai.
Layla Derraz, promotion and events representative from the DAC, shared that a further 50 applications are being processed now.
“The DAC has drawn great interest from international associations, and those that have already established an office at the DAC include UITP (an international association for public transport authorities, operators, policy makers and other key stakeholders in the public transport field), GSMA (an international association for mobile operators and those in related industries) and MENAFA (Middle East & North Africa Franchise Association),” said Derraz.
When asked if the DAC has enough office space to house more international associations, Derraz said an expansion project is underway to add to the DAC’s current capacity in the Sheikh Rashid Tower, part of the Dubai World Trade Centre.
Steen Jakobsen, director, Dubai Business Events, said: “There is a huge amount of development around the complex where DAC is, and multiple sites are in the pipeline. A second office will open next to the Dubai World Trade Centre and it will support new international associations that are entering the region.”
Jakobsen added that the DAC has contributed to Dubai Business Events’ ultimate goal of achieving greater MICE business in the destination.
Although Jakobsen was unable to quantify the percentage increase in the number of association meetings since the establishment of the DAC, he shared that a “roundtable with several associations last week revealed that they are hosting more events – both regional and international congresses” since coming into Dubai.
