Dubai’s Yiwu Market set to open on Tuesday

The 163.4 million Yiwu Market will be opened in Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) to cater to the needs of the retail and wholesale industries on June 28.

The market aims to revolutionise the trading experience for traders and consumers through its unique offerings. Yiwu is being set up as a joint venture between global ports operator DP World and the China Commodity City Group, which built and manages the world’s largest wholesale market in China.

Yiwu, the first smart free zone in the Middle East, is the first phase of the Dubai Traders Market (DTM), the 5.5 million sq m marketplace within Jafza.

Spanning over an area of 200,000 sq m, the market houses 1,600 mainland showrooms, out of which 99% of them are already occupied. These showrooms are located in two floors and are divided into different sections such as electronics and appliances, furniture and lighting, beauty and accessories, tools and hardware (including auto spare parts), kitchen and bath, bedding, curtains, and clothing.

The market comprises 324 warehouses spread across two floors. The warehouses are located right behind the showrooms, enabling the easy supply of products to the showrooms, thus eliminating the impact of low-stock-delays on outbound trade.

Additionally, each warehouse has a dedicated loading dock, providing complete logistical support for the seamless movement of goods.

JAFZA Ideal Destination

Abdulla Bin Damithan, CEO and Managing Director, DP World UAE and JAFZA, said: “Our innovative initiatives, and advanced trade and logistics solutions have successfully cemented JAFZA as an ideal destination for traders and businesses. Yiwu Market is one such solution we devised for our local traders and consumers.”

“We saw the need for a marketplace where goods can be stored, sold, imported, and exported; all in one place, without additional charges and with the greatest possible ease. We are very optimistic about how it will enhance the trading experience for our traders and shoppers,” he added.

One of the most prominent advantages Yiwu Market offers to its customers is its close proximity to Jebel Ali Port and Al Maktoum International Airport. This enables customers to easily transport goods to and from their warehouses through multiple channels in a cost and time-efficient manner.

It also offers significant value-added services to its tenants and shoppers. For the first 27 months after the opening of the market, tenants will not be required to pay a management fee. This is in addition to the relatively low license cost due to the market’s location within JAFZA, and the reduced logistics costs for import and export due to its proximity to sea and air transport channels. This results in lower shelf prices for consumers, making Yiwu Market ideal for both, traders and buyers.

Yiwu Connect

What truly helps Yiwu Market stand out is ‘Yiwu Connect,’, dedicated area that allows cross-border networking and information exchange between traders in Dubai and factories in China. In addition to directly connecting local traders with Chinese factories without the need of a middleman,

‘Yiwu Connect’ will also allow these traders to inspect the goods for quality assurance before importing them to the Dubai Yiwu Market. This service, at a time of unprecedented supply chain problems, will give customers a new level of quality assurance.

China has been the UAE’s top trading partner with bilateral trade between the two countries at $15.52 billion during Q1 of 2022.

A report from Standard Chartered early this year said that the UAE is expected to be the key driver of global trade growth as its exports are likely to expand at an average annual rate of more than 6% to $300 billion 2030 and the Emirates has identified India and mainland China as major export markets.