Sheikh Mohammed Launches Dh100 Billion Second Phase of DIFC

Dubai just committed Dh100 billion to doubling down on the industry that’s already made it a global financial capital. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has launched the second phase of the Dubai International Financial Centre, a 17-million-square-foot expansion designed to eventually house 125,000 professionals.

The new phase includes six office towers, two residential towers, a hotel and an AI Campus in its first stage, alongside a 1-million-square-foot digital economy innovation hub intended to host 6,000 companies and 30,000 AI specialists. A DIFC Academy expansion will serve 50,000 students a year, complemented by a new arts and culture centre, a conference centre and direct connectivity to the Dubai Loop underground network.

First deliveries are targeted for 2030. “Our future as a global economic hub is becoming more firmly established,” Sheikh Mohammed said at the launch — a statement that lines up with Dubai’s stated ambition to rank among the world’s top four financial centres.

An expansion of this size doesn’t just add office space — it adds a decade’s worth of demand for the housing, retail and hospitality that has to grow alongside 125,000 new professionals. That’s the kind of long runway that tends to reward investors who position early rather than after the towers are already built.

Source of information: Khaleej Times