Dubai: Dubai International Centre (DIFC), which has been recently ranked among the top ten global financial centres by The Banker, will continue to focus on developing and expanding a highly competent talent pool, said said Eisa Kazim, Governor of DIFC.

Each year, DIFC holds over 100 workshops and seminars for its growing community of more than 21,000 professionals, alongside world class professional development and higher learning courses.

Recently, DIFC launched The Academy, a state-of-the-art educational facility for the promotion of excellence in business and financial services. The Academy will further build on the growth of human capital through partnerships with leading business schools and universities from around the world.

This initiative reflects our commitment to increasing the pool of highly-skilled professionals based in DIFC, said Kazim.

DIFC is also consolidating its role as thought leader for the wider regions financial industry. In November, the Centre will organise the first Global Financial Forum (GFF), bringing its member companies together with leading global industry experts in a productive dialogue that explores the future of finance. True to its status as a platform for accessing MEASAs financial markets, the Forum will discuss how this region plans to navigate global industry shifts, apart from taking a broad view of global finance and analysing the Gulfs financial markets. Through a series of deep-dive discussions, the GFF will highlight geopolitical, technological and financial trends impacting the finance industry.

Supporting all of DIFC efforts to strengthen its soft infrastructure is the rapid development of its infrastructure and lifestyle offerings. We will continue to evolve as a financial centre and as a business and lifestyle destination in Dubai as we make further investments in our infrastructure, real estate and retail offerings, said Kazim.

By 2024, DIFC aims to offer a total of 5.5 million sq. ft. of commercial office space. New projects, such as the Emirates Towers Business Park, the Dh600-million Gate Avenue at DIFC, the new 660,000-square-feet urban retail and leisure development at the heart of the Centre, and the Dh200-million The Exchange multi-use development, will create the capacity for DIFCs expansion as a business and lifestyle destination.

Gate Avenue at the DIFC, which is on track to open in 2018, will link the podium levels of all buildings located in the centre, from the Gate Building to Central Park Towers. The new retail and lifestyle development will enhance the DIFCs position as a 24/7 destination with over 200 dining, boutique, retail and entertainment options.

Powered by a comprehensive development, which gives equal importance to hard and soft infrastructure, as well as the premium lifestyle requirements of financial professionals, Dubai is set to build on its surging global profile. If the first half of 2017 is any indication, Dubai could well grow further in international rankings.

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