DUBAI: Dubai figures among the top 10 most popular business locations in the world, with almost 56 per cent of the world's largest companies operating in the emirate, according to a new report.

According to CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), of the companies profiled, over half (56.1 per cent) have an office presence in Dubai, ranking it ninth overall in the list of the most popular business destinations, the real estate services firm said in a new report.

CBRE's report, 'Business Footprints - Global Office Locations', mapped the global office footprint of 280 major international companies across 101 countries and 232 cities.

Hong Kong, which is home to 68.2 per cent of the companies surveyed, was ranked the world's number one business location, followed by Singapore (67.5 per cent) and Tokyo (63.9 per cent). London was ranked the fourth most popular business location in the world (63.2 per cent), while Shanghai (61.4 per cent) came in fifth.

In the industrial goods and services sector, Dubai was ranked seventh globally, with 23 (70 per cent) of the companies surveyed present.

Dubai has emerged as a "gateway" city between Europe and the Far East and as a base for conducting business in places such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

The CBRE report found a number of cities in less developed emerging markets have become home to a significant proportion of international companies.

Nick Maclean, managing director, CB Richard Ellis Middle East, said the continuing trend to offshore parts of a business could distribute corporate activities more widely and reduce the degree of sector concentration for some cities.

"Dubai has a relatively balanced tenant mix. Over the past 10 years, the city has been designed and constructed with the specific intention of attracting major international firms from a broad range of sectors," he said.

According to him, whilst a number of government initiatives and tax breaks have helped do this, it is the creation of an integrated air and sea transport hub and regionally important financial centre which has created a strong resident talent pool, without which internationalisation would have been impossible.


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