Bangladeshis Owns Near 11000 Companies In UAE

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce has reported a significant 47 percent year-on-year increase in the number of new Bangladeshi companies joining its ranks in the first half of this year, reaching a total of 1,044.

With this latest influx, the total count of Bangladeshi firms registered as members of the Dubai Chamber has now reached 10,975 companies, as announced by the chamber earlier this month.

This revelation comes at a time when allegations of illicit fund transfers abroad, primarily through trade mis-invoicing and hundi (an informal money transfer mechanism used to redirect remittances sent by Bangladeshis abroad), are widespread. Dubai frequently emerges as a prominent destination within the local business community for such activities.

It's worth noting that Bangladeshi companies are officially prohibited from transferring funds abroad without approval from the Bangladesh Bank. To date, only a negligible number of local businesses have received such approval from the central bank for overseas investments.

As of January this year, the Bangladesh central bank had granted approval for 17 companies to invest abroad, with a total clearance of approximately $40.15 million for global investments. However, the Dubai Chamber has not disclosed the precise amount of investment by these foreign companies.

In the first half of 2023, a total of 30,146 new companies joined the chamber, with Indian businesses topping the list, followed by firms from the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan.

Indian companies accounted for a significant 22.3 percent of the firms registered by the end of June 2023. During the first half of 2023, 6,717 new Indian-owned companies signed up for membership, marking a notable 39 percent increase compared to the same period the previous year.

Furthermore, the chamber reported a 59 percent increase, with 3,395 new companies from Pakistan joining its ranks, bringing the total number of Pakistani companies registered with the Dubai Chamber to 40,315.

Additional noteworthy countries on the list of new members include Egypt, the United Kingdom, and China. Jordanian and Lebanese companies also ranked among the top new member companies, as per the chamber's data.

The Dubai Chamber further noted that 42.4 percent of the new companies are engaged in trade and repair services, while 30.8 percent specialize in real estate, renting, and business services. The construction industry accounted for 7.2 percent, and the transport, storage, and telecommunications sector represented 6.3 percent of the total activity among new member companies during the first half of the year.

Highlighting Dubai's dynamic business environment, Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, the President and CEO of Dubai Chambers, emphasized that the number of new chamber members had increased by a significant 43 percent during the first half of 2023.

The chamber also pointed out that countries with the highest growth rates in new member company ownership during the first half of 2023 included Japan, which experienced a remarkable 253 percent increase, totaling 60 new member companies.