Dubai is no longer a regional hub, but a global one
HSBC is deepening its wealth footprint in the UAE, with Co-Chief Executive Surendra Rosha saying Dubai has outgrown its regional role.
“It is no longer a regional hub; it is a global hub,” Rosha said today in a keynote opening the bank’s UAE Wealth Investment Summit at the Four Seasons Hotel in Dubai. He called the country “one of the world’s most important platforms for capital, for talent, and for enterprise.”
Whether clients are weighing wealth, corporate expansion or careers, “Dubai becomes a venue for conversation about globality and being able to execute globally from there,” said Rosha, who runs the bank’s Asia and Middle East business.
The UAE is one of HSBC’s four priority markets globally and a “critical connector” between Asia and the Middle East, and between the Middle East and the West. The UAE operation sent about 1 billion of incremental deposits to the wider group in the past year, he said.
HSBC opened its first wealth center in Jumeirah last year and will add one in Abu Dhabi by December. “As our customers continue to grow here, we continue to invest,” Rosha said. He called the summit the first of many HSBC expects to hold over “the next 80 years,” marking its eight decades in the country.
Rosha said the UAE sits at the centre of the technology shift reshaping capital flows. McKinsey estimates about $13 trillion of value will shift by 2030 as AI transforms industries, he said.
Client conversations are “no longer about reacting to the next headline” but about “resilience architecture,” Rosha added, including how to plan “across generations, not just years.” Volatility “is not an enemy,” he said, but requires long-term consistency and commitment to investment.
HSBC has operated in the UAE for 80 years and globally for 160, and Rosha said its standing rests on “the continued trust of our customers”.
HSBC's first Dubai wealth summit begins
What to expect today
We open with the keynote from Surendra Rosha, Co-Chief Executive, Asia and Middle East, HSBC Holdings, followed by HE Hadi Badri, CEO of Dubai Economic Development Corporation, on the UAE’s economic vision and what it means for investors.
Through the day, we will bring you short interviews, session summaries and key quotes, among others, on:
The future of advice and wealth in the UAE
Asia-Middle East investment flows and Shariah-compliant opportunities
AI, productivity and the future of work
Diversification, resilience and the macro-outlook
The India connection