DUBAI: Dubai Multi Commodities Center has been named the Global Free Zone of the Year 2022 by the Financial Times specialist editorial team and independent judges. It is the eighth consecutive year that the Financial Times fDi Magazine has recognized Dubai’s authority on commodities trade and enterprise, the statement added. Award winners are selected based on a comprehensive set of criteria and a review of the free zones’ ecosystems. Criteria used in making judgments this year included the effectiveness of each free zone’s ecosystems, business and marketing strategies, infrastructure improvements, and COVID-19 response, the statement said. This year, the DMCC won several awards, including Large Tenant Free Zone of the Year — Global; Large Tenant Free Zone of the Year — Middle East; Middle East Free Zone of the Year; Middle East SME Free Zone of the Year; Global Excellence Award for Environmental, Social, and Governance Practices; and Global Excellence Award for Infrastructure Development. Executive Chairman and CEO of DMCC Ahmed Bin Sulayem said: “Since DMCC was established in 2002, we have had two core goals – create a global gateway for trade, and comprehensively enhance the ease of doing business for our member companies.” SAFEEN Feeders and Invictus Investment sign strategic agreement A major contract has been signed between AD Ports Group’s SAFEEN Feeders and Invictus Investment to launch an international dry bulk shipping service, according to a statement. The two companies will purchase ships through Special Purpose Vehicles — 85 percent owned by SAFEEN Feeders and 15 percent by Invictus Investment. To operate the service, SAFEEN Feeders and Invictus Investment will form a joint venture. Invictus Investment will own 49 percent of the joint venture and SAFEEN Feeders will own 51 percent. The two companies are expected to invest approximately 463 million dirhams in the vessels. From September 2022 through June 2023, five ships will be deployed of varying sizes, with additional vessels planned for the future. This joint venture will serve as the carrier for Invictus’ dry-bulk trading business, which ships more than three million tons of commodities annually, primarily wheat and complementary grains. This business will occupy the majority of the ships’ capacity. The agreement will also extend its commercial bulk shipping services to other companies worldwide, initially focusing on the Red Sea and Pacific corridors, the Indian subcontinent, and the Black Sea region, but with the ability to ship to anywhere in the world within international navigating limits. Due to Invictus’ large existing trading volumes, the program is expected to generate strong returns on investment for Invictus Investment, the statement said. Shuaa Capital Shuaa Capital has announced that its Kuwait-based subsidiary Amwal International Investment Co. has agreed to sell 51 percent of its stake in NCM Investment for 200 million dirhams ($54.4 million), according to a statement. Shuaa Capital, a Dubai Financial Market-listed company, said in a regulatory filing that it expects the sale to close in the fourth quarter of 2022.