DUBAI.-Dubai: The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and the Gulf Art Fair announced today a strategic partnership that will develop the DIFC Gulf Art Fair into a major annual event and a significant new platform for international contemporary art.

Launched in 2004, the DIFC is the world’s fastest-growing financial centre, and is now firmly established as a global hub for financial services, bridging the time zones between Europe and Asia and serving both international and regional firms. Providing infrastructure and support for leading financial institutions in banking, insurance, asset management and capital markets, the DIFC serves as a unique bridge for financial flows between East and West.

His Excellency Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, Governor of the DIFC, said: “The Dubai International Financial Centre, which possesses a significant art collection of its own, believes wholeheartedly in supporting the development of Dubai as a regional and international centre for the arts and the development of art in the region. Just as the DIFC has become a truly international gateway for capital, the DIFC Gulf Art Fair is positioned to become a global gateway for the arts. We are very pleased to join in leading this worthy initiative.”

Recognising the increasing significance of the art market as an investment vehicle, and as part of its strategy to create a world-class financial centre, the DIFC will be the first financial center to create a location dedicated to art commerce. The DIFC Gulf Art Fair aims to become one of the top five contemporary art fairs worldwide within three years, and will provide the first stage in a plan to establish Dubai as the most important centre for art commerce in Asia and one likely to rival London and New York within a decade.

Providing both a zero-tax environment as well as unparalleled access between Europe, Africa, The Middle East and South Asia, Dubai offers an ideal focal point for the booming Asian art market to become established. A working party will gather expert advice to develop specific areas of the art market within the DIFC and its report will be published at the inaugural DIFC Gulf Art Fair in March. In addition a three-day Global Art Forum will bring together regional and international artists, writers, curators and academics to discuss a framework for the encouragement and promotion of art within the UAE and the region.

Fair Director, John Martin said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Dubai International Financial Centre on this important project. It emphasises the increasingly close ties that exist between the international contemporary art market and the financial sector. The partnership is a significant and unique project in which a major financial institution will take an active role using the platform of art commerce to help construct a cohesive cultural strategy relevant for Dubai and the wider region. In bringing the international art market to Dubai, the DIFC will lay the necessary foundations for the region’s flourishing art scene to develop at the highest level.”