The emirate of Dubai will be fully prepared to receive 25 million visitors when it hosts the World Expo 2020 international event in six years time. Speaking in an interview, Najeeb Mohammad Saleh, Head of Planning Research Section, Planning Department at Dubai Municipality, discussed how Dubai expects to cope with the influx of residents and visitors in 2020, we looked at three different scenarios – Low, Medium, Rapid and adopted the medium-growth scenario, and expect the population by 2020 to be about 2.8 million.

In 2010, the Executive Council appointed a steering committee made up of Dubai Municipality, the Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Dubai Civil Aviation, Lands Department, and Dubai Maritime City. These six government entities have since been responsible for planning, implementing and supervising the master plan for Dubai 2020.

In 2010, Dubai recorded 1.9 million residents and by the end of 2013 this had reached 2.23 million. “The existing urban area can reach up to 93,106 hectares, which we feel is sufficient for us. And, by 2020, we expect to grow an additional 25,000 hectares. But even if the rate of the growth is faster than we expect, with a maximum of 38,000 hectares, the capacity of the city and its urban area can still hold that,” said Saleh.

The city’s urban planning also involves evaluating the amount of office and retail space needed by 2020. There were 5.1 million square metres of existing office space in 2010, and the demand for 2020 is expected to add an additional 1.8 million square metres. The total retail floor space in 2010 was 5.3 million square metres, and is expected to increase to 6.5 million square metres.

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The Ministry of Finance has signed a Tax transparency Memorandum of Understanding with the Dubai Multi Commodities Center. The U.A.E’s largest and fastest-growing free trade zone, at the Ministry’s Headquarters in Dubai, which will assist in ensuring international standards of transparency in the exchange of information for tax purposes.

The MOU was signed by HE Younis Haji Al Khouri, Undersecretary of MOF and Ahmed bin Sulayem, who is the Executive Chairman of DMCC. The MOU agreement will implement transparency and a clear exchange of information between the MOF and the DMCC, ensuring that a principled process is applied to tax legislation that affects both companies and individuals.

The agreement’s aims is to strengthen the cooperation between the competent authorities responsible for the exchange of information for tax purposes, elevating the U.A.E’s tax practices in line with a global benchmark.

Commenting on the MOU, to support the national economy, the Ministry is committed to work with like-minded partners. This commitment is reflected through the signing of the MOU with DMCC. Also  the MOF continuously seeks to strengthen its cooperative relationships with various federal and local government entities in the U.A.E in order to attract more investments and guarantee prosperity in the U.A.E, which in turn will contribute to the U.A.E’s GDP.

Commenting on the importance of the MOU, as the international hub for trade and enterprise, DMCC, the U.A.E’s largest and fastest growing free zone, has and will continue to increase the flow of trade through Dubai and continue to make a significant contribution to the growth of the economy.

“At DMCC we always look at ways of improving efficiencies. Signing a MOU with the Ministry of Finance will further enhance collaboration across both Government entities to increase foreign direct investment and GDP contribution as we continue to demonstrate our commitment to his Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the U.A.E and Ruler of Dubai’s vision to establish Dubai as the main global economic hub.”

The Ministry of Finance has been already set about ensuring key stakeholders in the U.A.E become acquainted with the legal framework on the exchange of information related to tax, as recommended in the “Evaluation of the U.A.E” report. To guide the various stakeholders in the implementation of the legal framework and its recommendations, the Ministry has organized and will host a series of meetings with the various stakeholders.

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An Inter-Governmental Agreement has been signed between Mauritius and the United States for the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), as well as a bilateral tax information exchange agreement (TIEA).

The signing ceremony for the two agreements was held on December 27, 2013, in Port Louis and the signatories were the Mauritian Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Economic Development. Xavier-Luc Duval and the US Ambassador to Mauritius, Shari Villarosa.

FATCA, enacted by Congress in 2010 and taking effect on July 1, 2014, is intended to ensure that the US obtains information on accounts held abroad at foreign financial institutions (FFIs) by US persons. Failure by an FFI to disclose information on their US clients, including account ownership, balances and amounts moving in and out of the accounts, will result in a requirement to withhold 30 % tax on payments of US-sourced income.

To address situations where foreign law would prevent an FFI from complying with the terms of an FFI agreement, Treasury has developed model IGAs.

Under the terms of the Model 1 IGA between Mauritius and the US, Mauritian FFIs will be required to report their information to the Mauritius Revenue Authority, which will then automatically exchange the information with the US, according to the TIEA.

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