Dubai’s crown prince, Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced on Monday that the emirate would look to use the metaverse to create 40,000 “virtual jobs” and add $4 billion to its economy over the next five years.
In a tweet, he laid out the region’s intent to increase the number of blockchain and metaverse companies by five times in the same timeframe.
The push for the “Dubai Metaverse Strategy” aims to put the region on the virtual map as one of the “top 10 cities globally in terms of virtual economy.”
The tweet stated that the metaverse and blockchain sector currently contributes $500 million to Dubai’s national economy. It also said it will look to develop metaverse use-cases and applications in Dubai’s government.
The move comes amid a push by Dubai to grant crypto firms licenses issued by its Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). A volley of approvals have come through in recent months, including for OKX, Crypto.com, FTX and Binance, some of which will base their regional hubs in the Emirate.
It was also announced in May that VARA’s “MetaHQ” will be based at an unknown location in The Sandbox.
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About Author
Lucy is the NFT, gaming and metaverse editor at The Block. Prior to joining, she worked as a freelancer, with bylines in Wired, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.
Source: https://www.theblock.co/post/158413/dubais-metaverse-strategy-plans-to-add-4-billion-to-economy-by-2027?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss