Sibos expected to generate AED 65m for Dubai’s economy

World Trade Centre last week to attend the 35th annual Sibos conference Dubai’s position as one of the world’s leading financial centre’s has once again being reaffirmed as more than 7,000 business leaders from all over the globe convened at Dubai’s World Trade Centre last week to attend the 35th annual Sibos conference, the financial community’s leading annual networking event.
Taking place from September 16-19, Sibos Dubai brought together decision makers and experts from financial institutions, multinational corporations, and technology innovators to take part in a multi-faceted event that included half a dozen conference tracks, a hundred speakers and as many conference sessions, nearly 200 exhibitors, and numerous of networking events.
Originally SWIFT’s international banking operations seminar, Sibos has grown into a premier business forum for the global financial community to debate and collaborate in the areas of payments, securities, cash management and trade. Preferably held in destinations that are major financial platforms, previous Sibos host cities have included Osaka, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Vienna, Sydney and San Francisco. As such attracting a conference of this magnitude is a major milestone in Dubai’s already burgeoning Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) sector, which serves as confirmation of the Emirate’s status as a premier global destination in the MICE sector.
Speaking about Sibos Dubai, Hamad bin Mejren Executive Director of Business Tourism at Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), said: “Being chosen as the host city for the 35th annual Sibos conference is a major accolade for Dubai and testament to the tireless efforts of the Dubai Convention and Events Bureau (DCEB), a division of DTCM’s efforts to continually increase Dubai’s MICE profile.”
The services provided by DCEB, which included hosting four site inspections over the past three years, played a key role in the selection of Dubai as Sibos’ 2013 destination. In addition, DCEB further aided Sibos by facilitating a room block of 4,500 rooms through its affiliation with the Dubai Bid Alliance hotel partners and the weeklong event expected to generate a room night production of between 18,000 and 20,000 rooms.
As a comprehensive MICE event Sibos’ influence also exceeded well beyond just the attending delegates and conference programme. Parallel to the congress, banks and financial institutions also hold their own events in hotels, which add to the overall economic impact to the city bringing Sibos’ expected economic impact to AED 65,520,000.
Hamad bin Mejren went on to comment: “The high profile of the conference’s delegates and the resultant need for safety and security as well as excellent infrastructure around the convention venue, were factors that definitely played in Dubai’s favour. It is a pleasure to have welcomed the elite of the world’s financial community to Dubai for Sibos and show them the best of modern Arabian hospitality during their time in the Emirate. In addition to world-class conferencing facilities, Dubai offers delegates superb leisure activities and accommodation options.”
Sven Bossu, Head of Sibos, at SWIFT commented, “Dubai has in a very short time established itself as one of the world’s most important financial loci, making it a great destination in which to host our event. This was the second largest Sibos exhibition in our 35 year history and we are looking forward to yet another landmark event next year.”