RIYADH: Dubai’s economy recorded a 3.3 percent growth in the first nine months of 2023, as stated by the emirate’s Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum. The figures indicate steady progress toward the goal of the Dubai Economy Agenda D33, aiming to position the emirate among the world’s top three urban economies within the next decade. “Driven by the strategic vision of its leadership, Dubai has set an example for economic strength, resilience and innovation,” Sheikh Hamdan, who is also the chairman of the Emirate’s Executive Council, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. He added: “With the dedicated efforts of our government teams and international business partners, we look forward to achieving many more milestones in 2024.” Last week, the city announced that, thanks to approval from the UAE’s vice president, it would undertake a series of projects worth 5.5 billion dirhams ($1.49 billion). This comes as the city’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum has given the green light for the projects slated for 2024 under the umbrella of the Dubai Social Agenda 33, Emirates News Agency reported at the time. In January, Dubai launched a 32 trillion dirham economic plan aiming to boost trade and investments over the next decade, with the goal of doubling the size of the emirate’s economy. Dubbed D33, the agenda encompasses up to 100 transformative projects as the government aims to position the emirate among the world’s top three economic cities. “We have more than 300,000 investors in Dubai, and I invite everyone to join our journey to be one of the fastest growing cities in the world,” Al-Maktoum said in a tweet at the time. Under the plan, Dubai aims to achieve foreign trade of 25.6 trillion dirhams over the next decade, a significant increase from the 14.2 trillion dirhams recorded in the past decade. The ruler of Dubai announced plans to attract foreign direct investment averaging 60 billion dirhams annually, with a target of over 650 billion dirhams by 2033.