DUBAI, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Sunday that a total 8,900 firms had registered to its client base in the first half of 2017, among which Saudi Arabia had contributed significantly to the business boom.
The chamber said that its membership had seen an annual increase of 10.9 percent from January 1st 2017 to June 30, reaching a total of 210,000 firms by the end of June, "making it one of the world's largest membership-based chambers of commerce", claimed the organization.
The exports and re-exports for the first half of year had also grown from last year's 138.3 billion dirham (37.68 billion U.S. dollars), to 146.7 billion dirham (40 billion U.S. dollars), marking an increase of 6.1 percent.
Saudi Arabia was the top exporter and re-exporter for Dubai Chamber members, with a value of 51.9 billion dirham (14.14 billion dollars).
Hamad Buamim, President and CEO of Dubai Chamber, said that "trade relations between Dubai and Saudi Arabia continue to flourish and develop, this is clearly reflected in the 18 percent growth in member exports and re-exports to the kingdom in the first half of the year."
In order to attract new members from across the world, Dubai Chamber has participated a series of outbound activities across 38 cities in 33 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, India, Belgium, Germany, Ethiopia, Ghana, China, Britain, Uruguay, the Netherlands, and Zambia, among others.
