Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO), the economic zone for knowledge and innovation and a member of the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ), has received four accolades from Financial Times’ fDi Magazine Global Free Zones of the Year Awards.

The awards are the Global Free Zone of the Year for SMEs, the Middle East Free Zone of the Year for SMEs, ranked fifth in the Top 10 Global Free Zones of the Year 2023, and an honourable mention for Catalysing R&D.

The award, which is the most prestigious accolade a free zone can earn, serves as a testament to DSO’s exceptional performance throughout 2022/23 and its efforts to support and enable the success of its business community.

Dr. Juma Al Matrooshi, Director-General of Dubai Silicon Oasis, said, “We are delighted to be recognised in fDi’s Global Free Zones of the Year awards for 2023 as a global leader in fostering knowledge and innovation at Dubai Silicon Oasis. This notable acknowledgement speaks volumes of our consistent efforts to build a thriving ecosystem for startups, SMEs, and multinational companies. Our ongoing commitment is reflected in our world-class excellence, operational efficiency, robust infrastructure, and support for sustainability and accelerated growth of our stakeholders.”

Chris Knight, Managing Director of fDi Intelligence, stated, “I congratulate Dubai Silicon Oasis on its entry into this year’s global leader board as a Top five ranked Free Zone. An achievement fuelled by its unrivalled SME strategy, the free zone is dedicated to fostering knowledge and innovation across the industries of the future, resulting in a doubling of its number of SME clients last year.”

Notably, UAE free zones claimed six spots on fDi’s Top 10 Global Free Zones of the Year 2023. Over 60 free zones from across the world were assessed against a set of multidisciplinary criteria. The awards were judged by both the Financial Times’ specialist editorial team and a panel of independent judges for each region.

The team scored each nomination in categories including strategy, infrastructure development, and promotion of sustainability and ESG projects.