DUBAI

Shaping The Future

Global Economy

WITH AIBC’S FIRST MAJOR EXPO OF 2021 LINED UP FOR AN INAUGURAL LAUNCH IN DUBAI THIS MAY, BLOCK CAUGHT UP WITH ISSAM KAZIM, CEO OF THE DUBAI CORPORATION FOR TOURISM AND COMMERCE MARKETING.

DESPITE THE PANDEMIC, THE UAE IS LEADING THE WAY FOR THE REVIVAL OF TOURISM AND TRADE. HOW HAS DUBAI MANAGED TO COME OUT ON TOP AS ONE OF THE MOST OPEN TRAVEL DESTINATIONS OF 2021? IN ADDITION TO AN AMBITIOUS VACCINATION PROGRAM, WHAT MEASURES HAS THE EMIRATE TAKEN TO ENSURE SAFETY FOR VISITORS AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY?

At the heart of Dubai’s ability to quickly and safely open its tourism and business events sectors was the effectiveness of the city’s response to the global pandemic at its outset. Driven by the city’s leadership, a robust approach was taken to minimize the impact through a citywide sterilization programme and strict limits on movements and gatherings. Following this, as economic sectors gradually reopened, we worked with stakeholders across the public and private sectors to create a framework within which it was possible to both prioritise the health and safety of all participants and delegates, while at the same time provide platforms for showcasing new products and innovation, networking, professional development and knowledge sharing.

This meant that after Dubai was able to reopen for international tourism on 7 July, 2020, international business events had also resumed by 1 October, with guidelines in place to ensure measures such as social distancing, regular sanitization and safe dispensation of F&B were in place. This led to the successful hosting of major events such as Gitex and Gulfood, each attracting delegates from around the world.

We expect to build on this over the coming months with more major business events on the calendar, as we accelerate towards the hosting of Expo 2020 Dubai and AIBC Dubai. And with the rapid rollout of a nationwide vaccination programme, Dubai also continues to underline its status as a destination that has been able to effectively combat the global pandemic.

What Makes Dubai Stand Out As A Premier Destination For Companies Like Aibc That Are Looking To Hold

GLOBAL TECH EVENTS ON A LARGE SCALE?

Dubai stands out as a destination for global tech events due to both its robust business events infrastructure in place around the city and the focus on innovation that is propelling economic growth here.

Thanks to strong connectivity with the rest of the world through Dubai International Airport and via homegrown carriers Emirates and Flydubai, as well as other airlines, organisers can easily attract a global audience to their events here. Beyond this, Dubai is home to a wide range of venues that can handle events of all sizes and a diverse hospitality sector that offers accommodation choices across different budgets and segments. Crucially, we also have the expertise in the sector, with experienced professionals able to help planners create impactful events.

For companies looking to hold large scale global tech events in Dubai, there is the added benefit that they can tap into the city’s own innovation in this field. Focused on becoming a Smart City and embracing technologies such as AI, Robotics, Blockchain and 3D printing, Dubai provides an ideal setting for exploring and shaping the future global economy.

YOU COME FROM A TRADITIONAL FINANCE BACKGROUND - HOW DID YOU FIND YOUR WAY INTO BLOCKCHAIN AND CRYPTO?

I’m familiar with the fiat and monetary system and I know it’s a flawed system, so when I came across Bitcoin it was perfect because it’s not linked to a central bank or government. It’s the opposite of an inflationary fiat system. It’s a deflationary scarce asset on the Blockchain, in digital format. For me it was a no brainer. Since then, I’ve been investing and trading Bitcoin - investing in ICOs and advising on a lot of crypto projects. I think just the fundamental value of the Bitcoin network was enough to convince me this is the future, and I should really focus on it.

WHAT OTHER ELEMENTS IN THE CRYPTO SPACE EXCITE YOU? IS IT DEFI, NFTS OR A COMBINATION OF THE TWO?

I think more so DeFi because I see more long-term value in it, and the products and services coming out of it are disrupting the centralised finance world. If you look at the amount of money in the centralised finance world, it’s hundreds of trillions - if DeFi is disrupting that industry then that’s a big market to target.

NFTs are a great innovation and super hyped right now, I think anything you can digitise and prove to someone that you have the ownership of - is actually very useful, very disruptive. The lowest hanging fruit is art. It’s a different purpose with NFTs than with DeFi, which is longer-term and more value-added to people investing in crypto in general.

WE ARE BARELY KEEPING UP WITH ALL THE NEW PROJECTS AND RE-IMAGINING OF EXISTING TECHNOLOGY - WHAT ABOUT THE REGULATORS, ESPECIALLY ON THE UAE SIDE - HOW ARE THEY COPING?

There’s the Abu Dhabi global market which has issued framework and regulation around digital assets, although not quite so much around utility tokens.

at the moment, and it’s so fragmented. I think it will get better over time though. For DeFi it’s going to take regulators a while to get to grips with it, but ultimately they’ll find a way to monitor transactions on DeFi.

ARE THERE ANY DEFI PROJECTS

YOU’RE EXCITED ABOUT RIGHT NOW?

I’m super excited about Shisha Finance, which I founded about 4 months ago.

In a nutshell it’s a decentralized DeFi fund. What we’re trying to deliver to the market is definitely unique. I think it also challenges the centralised finance world of traditional funds, where you have all these caveats, like needing to do a minimal amount, or be an accredited investor, and so on. Why not just utilise a platform that can give you exposure to a good quality DeFi portfolio managed by people who have the background and experience to do it?

In the DMCC they’ve made an announcement that there will be companies that can actually issue utility tokens from Dubai. In terms of regulation the problem is that crypto’s international - so you need regulation globally. You need to have a set framework where a lot of jurisdictions agree - because there’s a lot of uncertainty in regulation

We really want to add value to people, especially those who are new to DeFi - we’re trying to get them to have a one-stop-platform where they can participate and automatically get exposure to a diversified DeFi portfolio of projects - which we’ve handpicked and spoken to and more often than not partnered with. Most are projects we invested in early in or advised on, so I think we have a really good connection with a lot of quality projects.

We also want to do a play on NFTs, and reward stakers with NFTs - you can possibly even get an NFT fund, so you could have a portfolio of different collections of NFTs over time.