DUBAI, Feb 16: Dubai announced on Saturday the creation of an international financial centre aimed at making the Gulf’s trading hub a bridge for financial services linking the Middle East with the rest of the world.

Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the driving force of the emirate’s business successes, told a news conference the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) was another step toward making Dubai a regional economic centre.

We always monitor the future trends and prepare for them. Thus, we in the UAE had long established ourselves a broad path for international trade, said Sheikh Mohammed, who is also defence minister for the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It gives me pleasure now to launch a second mechanism to ensure Dubai’s position as a global financial centre so that this region would have a place on the world’s market map.

The comments were carried by the official WAM news agency and in a press release issued by the Dubai Press Club.

The move could spark a rivalry with neighbouring Bahrain, the Gulf’s financial and banking hub, analysts said.

DIFC’s establishment follows the launch of free trade zone for information technology, media and electronic commerce, Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City, the first in the region.

Officials said DIFC aims to attract global financial institutions to the emirate, one of seven in the UAE federation.

The centre would give the region its first truly world-class financial exchange that will serve as a gateway for capital and for investment, DIFC chairman Anis al-Jallaf said.

It would also focus on asset management, Islamic finance, reinsurance and back office operations, Jallaf said.

DIFC is about bringing world-class global financial players to serve the region, not about relocating banks and operations already established in the UAE, Jallaf said.

Strict compliance with international standards would be enforced in the DIFC to guard against money laundering, said Jallaf, who chairs DIFC’s board of composed of senior local finance officials. The board will be backed by an advisory panel of prominent international banking figures.

Only financial institutions based in countries that are members of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering would be allowed to set up shop at DIFC, Jallaf said.

The UAE has recently passed a law to combat money laundering.—Reuters