The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, one of the biggest free trade zones in the world, signed agreements with governments and companies in South Korea to bring more Web3 and metaverse businesses to the emirate. The objective of this move is to consolidate the status of Dubai as an international blockchain hub in the region.
Dubai Free Trade Zone Inks Web3 and Metaverse Partnership With South Korean Entities
Dubai is working to solidify its image as a worldwide decentralized tech hub. The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, one of the biggest free trade zones in the region, has signed several partnerships with South Korean entities as part of the expansion of Dubai’s business in the Web3 industry.
The zone, which is owned by the government of the emirate and has registered more than 20K companies in total, inked these partnerships as the culmination of a series of roadshows made in several cities in Korea. These memorandums of understanding (MoU) were signed with the Korea Blockchain Industry Promotion Association (KBIPA) and Seongnam City, a city with an important base of tech consortiums.
As part of these agreements, the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre commits to support the establishment of Korean companies in the Web3 and metaverse industries in its territory. Ahmed Bin Sulayem, CEO of the Dubai Free Zone, stated:
The signing of these MoUs with KBIPA and Seongnam City comes at a perfect time, as we continue to accelerate our strategy of supporting businesses in these sectors. We are proud to contribute to the strong and resilient economic relations between the UAE and South Korea.
Metaverse Background
While interest and funding of the metaverse seem to be waning, Dubai has been one of the first emirates that rallied to adopt the technology as part of a structured government approach. In May 2022, the emirate created a metaverse task force, with the idea of promoting the creation of a local economy based in the metaverse.
The emirate finally formulated its metaverse strategy in July last year, expecting the sector to contribute $4 billion to its economy by 2030, attracting 4,000 more companies and creating 40,000 new jobs in the sector by 2025.
Also in July, reports informed Dubai was seeking to take part of its offices to the metaverse, to allow government departments and ministries to perform their duties in the virtual world.
