Western restrictions do not halt business but merely redirect it, the chairman of UAE’s main free-trade zone says
Sanctions on Russia are having no impact outside the West and such efforts to hamper business simply redirect it elsewhere, the chair of Dubai’s main trading hub has said, in an interview with the Financial Times.
The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) is a leading free-trade zone in the United Arab Emirates that hosts more than 24,000 businesses.
DMCC chief Hamad Buamim told the FT on Wednesday that sanctions slow the economy, but never stop it.
“Trade continues flowing, it just flows in a different way,” Buamim stated.
According to the report, Dubai is seen as a beneficiary of US and EU attempts to isolate Russia’s economy. Global oil traders moved from Geneva to the UAE after Switzerland joined the campaign of sanctions introduced against Moscow.
Buamim, who is also president of Dubai’s chamber of commerce, said that energy is the most important sector for the DMCC, with some 3,000 energy companies registered in the zone.
In recent months, the West has ratcheted up pressure on the UAE and some other countries, to force them act against companies trading with Russia.