Table of Contents

Introduction 5

Note 6

Legend 7

DubaiEconomy:Overview 8

EconomicSectors:RatingOverview 9

Agriculture&Fishery 10

Mining&Quarrying 11

Manufacturing 12

Electricity,Gas&Water 13

Construction 14

Trading&Repairing 15

Hotels&Restaurants 16

Transport,Storage&Communications 17

RealEstate,Renting&BusinessServices 18

Education 19

OtherServices 20

Conclusion 21

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Introduction

Dubai Chamber supports the business community through the provision ofcurrentmarketinformationtopractitioners.

Information in this Dubai Business Advisor supplements and provides acontextual overview on the company credit ratings in the Dubai ChamberBusiness Information Reports. Credit rating is a qualified assessment and formal evaluation of a company’s credit history and capability of repayingobligations. This is a joint initiative executed with Coface Emirates. TheBusiness Information Reports enable strategic focus on honourable clientswith high business potential, enable time-efficient business decisions, and advanceconcealeddataonyourpotentialclientportfolios.

TheDubaiBusinessAdvisor,RatingEconomicSectors inDubai is reportingratingopinionsatsectorlevel.Thepurposeofthisreportistoserveasaguideforyourmarketassessment.Asnapshotof theDubaieconomy isprovidedat thebeginningof thisguide.This is followedbyanaggregateoverviewofthe rated companies, according to the breakdown in the Dubai Chamberdatabase.

For individual ratingopinionsandmore informationonBusiness InformationReports, contact Ms Deema Dajani, Business Development Executive, on04–2028402oremaildeema.dajani@dubaichamber.ae.

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Note

Rating Opinion:

TheCreditRatingOpinion is a ratingsystemdesigned toassess theabilityof a company to fulfill its financial commitments, using a standard scale of evaluation.

Benefits:

• Acreditassessmentscoregivenbyacreditexpert

• An identification of potential risks associated with the rated company

• Reliabledataontheratedcompanyanditscredithistory

RatingOpinionsaremonitoredforoneyear.

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Legend

A Credit Opinion is reflected in a 5-level scale and shows the credit limit for the companiesincludedinthesample:

R € 10,000

@ € 20,000

@@ € 50,000

@@@ € 100,000 and above (Customized Credit Opinion is required)

X Companyshowsweakness,nocreditwillbegranted

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Dubai Economy: Overview

Source:MinistryofEconomy

Thegraphoffersabreakdownofeconomicactivitybysectoraccording tomostrecentlisteddatafromtheMinistryofEconomy.

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Economic Sectors: Rating Overview

Ratings were concluded for 5,585 cross-sector Dubai-based companies.Almost a quarter of the rated companies have a credit limit of € 100,000 or above. Another quarter is rated with a credit limit of € 50,000. The remainder represent a credit limit of € 20,000. A minor number of companies are weak andthereforeillegibleforcredit.

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Agriculture & Fishery

Agricultural and fishery activities are a relatively small segment of the Dubai economy–lessthanonepercent–butstillaccountforoverAED1bnofDubaiGDP.Thissectorwillcontinuetoattractattentionasfoodsecurityandwatermanagementissuescontinuetobeattheforefrontofpeople’sminds.

Dubaifarmsproducednearly90,000tonnesofcropsin2005,foratotalvalueof AED 160m. Fifty-eight per cent of the crops were classified as ‘crops & fodder,’ 37 per cent were fruits, and five per cent were vegetables. In addition, farmsproducedover38,000tonnesofmilk,nearly7,000tonnesofchicken,and over 111m eggs. Approximately 16,600 tonnes of fish were caught by Dubai fishermen.

The sector includes firms engaged in traditional farming and fishing activities aswellasbusinessesprovidingsupportservicestothesector,insuchareasasirrigationandpestcontrol.

Thissectorisrepresentedby42companiesintheaggregateratingsample.Aquarter of these companies have a credit limit of € 100,000, whereas one third has a limit of € 50,000. Less than half of these companies represent a credit limit of € 20,000.

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Mining & Quarrying

Although Dubai is located near many large oil-producing nations, thecontributionoftheminingandquarryingsector–whichincludesoilandgas– isquitesmall;onlythreepercentofDubai’sGDPcomesfromthissector.CrudeoilandnaturalgascontributednearlyAED7bntoDubai’s2006GDP,whilequarryingactivitiesaccountedforonlyAED140m.Nevertheless,manymultinational companies in this space have a significant presence in Dubai. Perhapsthemost famousexample isHalliburton,whichannounced in2007thattheyweremovingtheircorporateheadquarterstotheEmirate.

Withitsproximitytokeysourcesoffossilfuels,anditsreputationasaglobaltradinghub,Dubaihasbecomeacentre for the trade in rawmaterials.TheDubaiGovernmenthascreated theDubaiMultiCommoditiesCentre,a freezone authority focused on precious metals and stones, energy, and other commodities.

Mostcompaniesintheminingandquarryingsectorareinternationalcompaniesengagedinprovidingservicesrelatedtooilexplorationandextraction.Alsoon the list are UAE companies engaged in various aspects of oil and gasextraction, refining, and distribution.

Fourty per cent of the companies are rated with a credit limit of minimal€ 100,000. Thirty-six per cent of companies received a rating of € 50,000, whereas twenty-two per cent are limited at € 20,000.

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Manufacturing

Although not the best known of Dubai’s economic activities, manufacturingisitssecondbiggestsector–accountingforover15percentofGDP.Over160,000workersareemployedinDubaimanufacturingventures.MetalsandpetrochemicalshavetraditionallybeenstrongsuitsoftheDubaimanufacturingsector, although there are many competitive firms manufacturing goods in areassuchasfoodstuffandapparelandtextiles.DubaiAluminiumCompanyLimited–orDubal–isoneofthelargestindustrialconcernsintheUAEandoneofthelargestaluminiumproducersintheworld.

Dubai has also worked to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in manufacturing to set up operations here. Spearheading theseefforts is the creation of two free zones, Dubai Industrial City (DI) and Dubai Maritime City. DI has several zones, each allocated to a specific sector. The zones offer dedicated areas for firms engaged in the food and beverage, basemetals,minerals, transportandequipment,machineryandmechanicalequipment,andchemicalssectors.

Halfofthecompaniesinthissectorreceivedanotable“@@@”distinction.Onefourth is rated with a credit limit of € 50,000. The remaining one fourth of the companies are rated with a limit of € 20,000.

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Electricity, Gas & Water

Electricity,gas,andwaterproductionanddistributionmakeupasmall,butvital, percentage of Dubai economic activity. This sector can be seen asbeing divided into two main components: traditional utilities (including service providers to grid operators) and bottled drinking water. These businesses have experienced exceptional demand growth over the past several years,aspopulationgrowthandanexpandingdevelopmentfootprintintheemiratehavecreatedconsiderablyincreasedneedfortheseservices.Between2005and 2007, the size of this sector in the UAE as a whole grew at more than 12 percentperyear.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) provides electric power and waterservicetoDubairesidentsandbusinesses.Tomeetanticipateddemandgrowth, DEWA has recently confirmed its commitment to its AED 72.5bn plan – first launched in 2007 – to increase the production capacity of water and electricity.DEWAcurrentlyhasnearly6,700megawattsofpowerproductioncapacityandplanstoincreasecapacitybyninepercentbytheendoftheyear.Watersupply is largelyprovidedbydesalination;DEWAplans toexpand itscurrentdesalinationinfrastructuretoreachacapacityof333mimperialgallonsperdaybytheendoftheyear.

The ratings for this sector are evenly distributed over the credit limits of € 100,000 (@@@), € 50,000 (@@), and € 20,000 (@).

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Construction

Dubai’s construction industry experienced remarkable growth over the pastyears.Ground-breakingprojectstestingnewboundariesinbuildingtechniqueshave grabbed worldwide media attention, including the Palm Islands – anambitiousprojecttocreateman-madeislandsforresidentialandcommercialuse. Dubai also boasts the world’s two tallest hotels (the Rose Rotana and Burj al Arab), the world’s tallest skyscraper (Burj Dubai), and the largest shopping mall in Europe and the Middle East (Dubai Mall). Thirteen of the 100 tallest buildingsintheworldarelocatedinDubai.Onethirdoftheworld’sconstructioncranesarebeingusedintheemirate.ConstructionaccountedforjustovereightpercentofDubaiGDPandemploysover250,000workers–nearlyone-fourthoftheworkforce.Despitetherecentslowdownintheglobalrealestatemarket,therearestillhundredsofbillionsofconstructionprojectsunderwayinDubai.JonesLangLaSalleestimatethatoverthenextthreeyears,currentconstructionprojectswillbringnearly35msquare feet of office space and 90,000 new residential units to market. Over thenexttwoyears,retailspacewill increaseby50percenttoaroundthreemillionsquarefeetofgrossleasablearea,withcompletionofmajorshoppingcentreprojects.

Thirteen per cent of this large sector was rated with a credit limit of € 100,000 or above. One third was rated with a limit of € 50,000. Half of the sector was limited at € 20,000.

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Trading & Repairing

Thetradingandrepairingspace–whichincludeswholesaleandretailtrade,distribution, maintenance, and repairs – is the largest sector of the Dubaieconomy,accountingforoveronethirdofGDPintheemirate.Asof2006,thissectoremployed29percentoftheworkforceofDubaiandoccupied60percentofestablishments.

Tradeconsistsofwholesaleactivities – including import/export –and retail.Exportsareapproximately95percentofGDP,andimportsmakeuptwothirdsoftotaleconomicactivity.Ahistoryasatradinghub,moderninfrastructure,andthe creation of numerous free trade zones all play a role to make Dubai a leading centre in international trade. The free zones provide a business environment catering to firms engaged in international trade, allowing full foreign ownership, no limits on repatriation of capital, and long-term tax holidays for free zone basedbusinesses.

Domestically, Dubai’s robust consumer market provides strong demand forwholesaleandretail tradingservices. TheDubaiStatisticsCentreestimates2007populationatover1.5m,82percentofwhichwerebetweentheagesof15and49.Since2000,populationgrowthhasbeenoversevenpercentperyear, largelyduetothegrowingexpatriatecommunity.Privateconsumptionmakesupabout40percentofDubaiGDP.

One fifth of the rated companies has a credit limit of minimal € 100,000. Another quarter of the companies was rated with a limit of € 50,000, whereas half of the companies has a credit limit of € 20,000.

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Hotels & Restaurants

HotelsandrestaurantsformthebackboneofDubai’srapidlygrowingtourismsector.Mega-projectsinthesectorhavegrabbedheadlinesaroundtheworld,including the ultra-luxurious Burj al Arab project and the recently-openedAtlantisHotelonPalmJumeirah.

Dubaihotelssawnearlysevenmillionguestsin2008,surpassingthepreviousrecordset in2007. Asof themiddleof2008,340hotelswereoperating inDubai.HotelrevenueintheemiratereachedAED15.25bnlastyear,a15percentincreaseoverthepreviousyear.Thetotalnumberofhotelroomsandhotelapartments inDubaistoodat49,598asof theendof2008.Forthesecondquarterof2008,theoverallroomoccupancyratestoodat80.1percent.

The restaurant industry in Dubai reflects the cosmopolitan nature of its resident population. Fromworld-renownedhautecuisinetoneighbourhoodeateries,Dubai restaurants cater to all tastes and serve dishes originating from allcornersoftheworld. Inadditionto locally-establishedrestaurants,Dubai ishosttonumerousinternationalchainsandfranchises.Manyfast-foodchains,includinginternationalbrands,havereportedsteadysalesintheUAEinrecentmonths,suggestingthatthissliceofthemarketisholdingupwellinthecurrenteconomicclimate.

Twenty-eightpercentofthecompaniesinthissectorreceivedanotable“@@@”distinction. One fifth is rated with a credit limit of € 50,000. Fourty-two per cent of the companies are rated with a limit of € 20,000. In addition, eight per cent ofthecompaniesareratedasweak.

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Transport, Storage & Communications

Transport, storage, and communication account for about nine per cent ofDubai GDP and employs over 90,000 people. Although this sector seemsrelativelysmall, it iscritical to theproper functioningofothersectors in theeconomy.

Dubai International Airport handled over 37m passengers last year – anincreaseofninepercentfrom2007–aswellas1.8mtonnesofcargo.Figuresat the beginning of 2009 show continued growth in passenger traffic on a year-over-year basis. Al Maktoum Airport, currently under construction, willofferanairfacilityneartheJebelAliFreeZone,aswellasconsiderablecargotransportationcapacity.

Dubai ports are ledby Jebel AliPort and PortRashid, bothpart of theDPWorldportfolio.DubaiDrydockandJADAFDubaiprovideshiprepairingandmaintenancefacilitiestomembersofthemaritimecommunity.

Telecommunication,television,andotherinformationserviceshavedevelopedrapidly in recent years, in response to rising consumer demand for theseservices.In the communications space, Etisalat is the primary provider ofmobile and fixed line phone service, internet, and cable television. Du begun competinginthesemarketsrecently.

Thissectorisrepresentedby615companiesintheaggregateratingsample.Almost ten per cent of these companies have a credit limit of minimal € 100,000, whereas twenty per cent has a limit of € 50,000. Sixty-five per cent of these companies represent a credit limit of € 20,000. The remaining five per cent are ratedasweakcompanies.

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Real Estate, Renting & Business Services

Thesectoraccountsfor15percentofDubaiGDP,makingitthethirdbiggestsectoroftheeconomy.Nearlyninepercentoftheworkforceisemployedinrealestate,renting,andbusinessservices–over90,000workers.

The companies listed in this specific sector overview fall into four major categories: general business services, computer services (including various information consulting services), real estate (including brokerage and property management), and renting services (including everything from heavy machinery to passenger car rental).

There are numerous free zones for firms in the business services sector. ZoneshostinginformationtechnologycompaniesincludeDubaiInternetCity,DubaiSiliconOasis,andTechnoPark.Additionally,DubaiOutsourceZone,aventure of Dubai Internet City, has been set up specifically for firms offering professionally-outsourcedservicestocorporationsworldwide.

Withinthissectoronefifthofthecompaniesareratedwithacreditlimitof€ 100,000 or above. Another one fifth was rated with a limit of € 50,000. Half of the sector was limited at € 20,000. Five per cent are rated weak.

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Education

Theprivateeducationsector inDubaihaswitnessed rapidgrowth in recentyears, as it expands to meet the needs of a knowledge-based economy.Interestindevelopingeducationalorganisationsintheemiratehasledtothecreation of several free zones, including Dubai Knowledge Village (DKV) and Dubai Academic City (DAC). Both zones offer a base for leading international organisations to provide education and training to the local population. DKV is primarilyfocusedonknowledge-basedentities–includingtrainingcentresandlearningsupportentities–andishosttoover350educationalpartners.DACishometotraditionalprimary,secondary,andtertiaryinstitutionsfromaroundthe world. Dubai International Academic City (DIAC), which is located in DAC, caters specifically to higher education organisations, and currently hosts 32 internationalinstitutionsfromallcornersoftheworld.

Among primary and secondary institutions, the private sector is the mainprovider of education; more than 80 per cent of students, nearly 150,000pupils, attend private institutions. The market for higher education is alsosubstantial.Approximately12,000studentsarecurrentlyenrolledininstitutionsbased in DIAC. The numerous professional training organisations in DKV offer programmes inadiversevarietyofsubjects, fromBiotechnologytoFashionDesign.

Fourty-fourpercentofthecompaniesinthissectorreceivedanotable“@@@”distinction. Thirty-three per cent is rated with a credit limit of € 50,000. Twenty-two per cent of the companies are rated with a limit of € 20,000.

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Other Services

Otherservicescoversavarietyofactivities,includingsanitation,businessandprofessionalorganisations,recreation,newsagencies,andcleaningservices.Thissegmentaccounts fora relativelysmallportionofGDP,around1.5percent. Companies profiled in this report from the ‘other services’ category include firms engaged in refuse removal, recycling, and waste management; drycleaningandlaundry;andcultural,recreational,andsportingservices.

Sixteencompanieswere ratedunder “otherservices”.Twenty-ninepercentof the companies were rated with a notable “@@@” distinction. Seventeenper cent is rated with a credit limit of € 50,000. Fourty-one per cent of the companies are rated with a limit of € 20,000. In addition, eleven per cent of the companiesareratedasweak.

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Conclusion

The Dubai Business Advisor, Rating Economic Sectors in Dubai is a pilotinitiativeoftheBusinessDevelopmentDepartment.

Information in this report serves as an instrument to assess Dubai marketsbysector.Datawasgatheredonthevarioussectorsandcompiledintobriefoverviews.

The total number of rated companies add up to 5,585 companies. Thisaggregatenumberisdividedoverthevarioussectorsinthisreport.

The Business Development Department provides knowledge instruments tofacilitatebusinessesinDubai.

TheBusinessDevelopmentDepartment iscontinuing todesignnewmarketbenchmarkingproductstoassistinyourbusinessdecision-making.

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