Dubai: Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the tax free business park, plans to raise $700 million (Dh2.6 billion) by issuing Islamic bonds by the end of year, a top official said on Sunday.
“The DIFC is in process of refinancing its debt. We are in a process of issuing a sukuk. This is to achieve refinancing target debt and part of it will be used to develop our infrastructure,” said Eisa Kazim, Governor of DIFC.
Currently, the company has a debt of about $650 million, and aims to finalise the deal by end of October. “The tenor is still flexible … we are talking to a number of local and international banks,” said Rajesh Pareek, chief financial officer, DIFC.
For financing of other projects, Kazim said, the company has a “healthy balance sheet” and that is going to create excess cash.
“Our objective is to double companies and double the workforce in years to come. The way DIFC has been growing we are confident,” of achieving it, Kazim said.
The DIFC has 1,113 registered companies and a total work force of 16,560 till the first half to June.
Strong momentum
“… we continue to enjoy a very strong momentum with a soundly established physical, legal, and regulatory infrastructure. The announcement of these results reflects our continued success and achievements,” said Kazim.
The company’s focus would be on emerging markets, with major emphasis on Africa.
“As we move into our next decade of operations, we will continue to strengthen our offer, which is helping to transform Dubai into a global hub for business and finance,” Kazim said.
DIFC said there has been a significant growth in active financial services firms and non-financial services firm, which stood at 350 and 600 from 327 and 565 respectively as of the beginning of January 2014.
Out of the 350 firms registered with the DIFC, about 35 per cent of the companies were from Europe, with 30 per cent from the Middle East. The company also has issued about 111 commercial licences since January 2014.
During the first half of 2014, the active registered companies operating within the Centre reached 1,113, with 64 non-financial services firms joining the Centre, and an additional 31 financial services firms authorised.
The DIFC boasts of having 21 of the world’s top 25 banks, 11 of the world’s top 20 money managers, seven of the ten largest insurance companies and seven of the world’s top ten law firms.
