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Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, chaired a meeting of the Higher Committee for the Development of the Economic and Financial Sector on October 8, 2026. The Emirates News Agency reported that the session examined performance indicators across economic diversification and financial competitiveness, including recent gains in global rankings. “Guided by the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, we continue Dubai’s journey of economic diversification, competitiveness and sustainability,” Sheikh Maktoum said according to the official account of the meeting. The committee endorsed strategic steps to expand the emirate’s role in international gold markets while noting strong momentum in existing financial activities.
The Global Financial Centres Index published in September 2026 placed Dubai first worldwide in FinTech, an advance from fifth position recorded in March 2026, a committee assessment found. Dubai improved to second globally in professional services from an earlier fourth ranking and rose to sixth in reputation from eighth place. For the fourth consecutive edition, the index identified Dubai as the financial centre expected to grow most in significance over the next two to three years. These shifts, reviewed during the meeting, reflect sustained global confidence in the emirate’s regulatory environment and innovation capacity.
Figures presented to the committee showed that 52 Virtual Asset Service Providers had been licensed by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, managing assets worth Dhs28 billion. Trading volumes among these providers reached approximately Dhs7.43 trillion over the preceding 12 months, the official data indicated. The Dubai International Financial Centre now hosts more than 10,000 active registered companies, according to the statement issued after the meeting. Such expansion demonstrates the effectiveness of policies supporting new financial technologies within a robust oversight framework.
The Dubai Financial Market recorded a market capitalisation of Dhs993.1 billion by the end of the third quarter of 2026, data reviewed by the committee showed. Average daily trading values increased by 24.5 percent, with institutional investors contributing 71 percent of the total value traded. During the first nine months of the year the exchange attracted 55,462 new investors, 72.1 percent of whom were international, the committee was told. These trends point to continued appeal among both domestic and overseas participants.
The committee approved strategic directions for a comprehensive Dubai Gold Strategy covering the full value chain from supply and refining to trading, storage, financing, pricing, digital tokenisation and retail. Official figures reviewed during the meeting placed Dubai’s foreign gold trade at approximately Dhs1 trillion in 2025, a 60 percent increase from the prior year. The UAE traded around 2,750 tonnes of physical gold that year, securing second place globally among physical gold trading hubs, with an estimated 13 to 15 percent of all globally traded gold passing through Dubai annually. The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre’s ecosystem includes more than 1,500 member companies while the Dubai Gold District launched in 2026 hosts over 1,000 retail gold and jewellery traders, the statement added.
A report by Arabian Business noted that the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange saw traded volumes rise 30 percent in 2025 to more than two million lots with a total contract value of nearly $47 billion. Gold futures activity on the exchange surged 613 percent year on year, underscoring demand for hedging tools. The latest committee review builds on this foundation by setting priorities such as expanding global trading networks, strengthening financing capabilities and improving transparency standards. These measures align with Dubai’s longer-term economic growth, which the Department of Economy and Tourism reported at 2.4 percent for the first quarter of 2026.
