Dubai has been ranked the top maritime center in the Arab world and the fifth best globally in the Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index Report 2022.
A total of 43 maritime locations were rated which considers port factors including cargo throughput, number of cranes, length of container berths and port draught, number of players in professional maritime support businesses such as shipbroking, ship management, ship financing, insurance and law as well as hull underwriting premiums, and general business environment factors such as customs tariffs, the extent of electronic government services and logistics performance.
The top ten list consists of Singapore, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Dubai, Rotterdam, Hamburg, New York/ New Jersey, Athens/ Piraeus, and Ningbo-Zhoushan.
Singapore has earned its longstanding spot at the top of this index due to its wide and established ecosystem of professional global maritime services, good governance, ease of doing business and large and strategically situated port.
Mark Jackson CEO – Baltic Exchange
“This report serves as a valuable reminder of how intrinsic shipping is to global trade and prosperity. It also illustrates that shipping does not exist in silos. The success of the maritime hubs included in the top ten list has for the most part been borne out of collaboration and synergies across different sectors of the shipping industry. The Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index shows that a successful shipping center provides everything that the international ship-owner might need, and a successful shipping center is ultimately also a successful global city.”
“There are a number of free zones that allow 100 percent foreign ownership of businesses. Mainland business regulations allow full foreign ownership in 122 economic activities across 13 sectors and offer 100 percent profit repatriation,” Dubai Maritime City Authority told the Xinhua-Baltic ISCDI Report.
Further, in February 2022, Dubai Maritime City announced a $38 million plan to invest in roads and infrastructure to better integrate the maritime city and attract more businesses.
