By NNN-Bernama
Dubai : A large number of international diamond dealers, led by Indian businessmen, have begun a mass migration of their organisations from Antwerp to Dubai, Emirates Business reported.
The tax-free and friendly business environment of Dubai is credited with luring the diamond traders, it said, adding that some of them have complained of heavy taxes and alleged police raids.
The report quoted an unnamed diamond wholesaler as saying that he moved his business from Antwerp to Dubai due to the “unfriendly” environment for the diamond industry in the European city.
Dubai’s rough diamond trade totalled US$4.8 billion in 2007. About 350 firms specialising in diamond trade are now part of the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE), compared to about 300 in 2006.
JH Hammer Group, which has 10 offices around the world and records about US$250 million in profits annually from the diamond trade, is one of the businesses that recently moved its headquarters from Europe to Dubai, Emirates Business said.
It quoted JM Hammer’s managing director Majid Al Ghouneh as saying that he knows of at least 20 diamond companies which have moved recently to Dubai from Antwerp.
According to him, a similar number are considering the move and are likely to do so once the new home of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), Almas Tower, is ready.
“Infrastructure, facilities, geographical location and safety are the essential factors that contributed to our decision to move to Dubai. The decision was taken after a major study and comparing the emirate with many international cities, especially London,” he said.
Al Ghouneh said operating costs have gone down by 55 percent since the company moved to Dubai compared to the group’s operations in Europe.
“You cannot say Dubai will push Antwerp to retire because Antwerp’s diamond trade goes back 100 years. But over the past four years, Dubai has managed to attract the world’s big names of diamond trade,” he said.
DDE chief executive Yori Steverlynck said pressure in the international market was causing diamond traders to re-examine the location of their headquarters to ensure that they were maximising benefits.
The move to Dubai, he added, makes sense in today’s market.
Steverlynck said most big diamond firms belonged to Indian families and investors and that 75 percent of the diamond trade in Antwerp was done by Indian dealers.
DMCC executive chairman Ahmed bin Sulayem said traders were beginning to prefer Dubai given the emirate’s close proximity to growing world markets such as Asia and India.