DUBAI, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The total number of active registered firms in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) reached 2,003 at the end of June, up 14 percent from 1,750 in the same period last year, DIFC said on Sunday.
DIFC, the biggest financial free zone in the Middle East, said the trend in the first half of this year "reflects the industry's continued confidence in Dubai and its leadership's vision."
Arif Amiri, CEO of the DIFC Authority, said "the new clients who have opened in DIFC range from FinTech start-ups which are supported by our vast ecosystem, to global industry giants."
During the first six months of 2018, 50 percent of start-ups from the first FinTech Hive program, the region's first FinTech accelerator, have set up in DIFC. The total funding raised by these start-ups amounts to 10 million U.S. dollars.
Founded in 2014, the DIFC now has approximately 23,000 employees working in it.
The financial free zone expects Chinese firms to set up in the center in the future as it recorded in the first six months of 2018 "growing interest" from Chinese institutions in the center and its FinTech ecosystem.
