The Match Between Singapore and Dubai

Everyone's talking about the Dubai vs. Singapore match 🏏 right now, particularly when it comes to family office movement.
The consensus? Dubai's winning.
But if you ask me, that just ain't cricket!

This isn't an "either/or" conversation – it's "AND."

Those who know me well know I've long believed in an emerging economic corridor between the GCC and Southeast Asia. Having lived in the UAE for 12 years and Singapore for the last 6 (while Growth Ensemble’s co-founder Adam Flinter has done the reverse – Singapore 12, Dubai 6), we see these cities at different but complementary life stages. Dubai is a massive "scale-up" with extraordinary dynamism and potential; in fact the whole GCC has it. Singapore has "IPO'd" – growing up into a mature, sophisticated financial hub with deep institutional infrastructure.

Industry leaders like Ray Dalio recognize this symbiosis. His family office operates in both markets precisely because the world's economic axis is shifting toward these two regions, triangulated by India as the connecting powerhouse. I'm certainly not comparing myself to Mr. Dalio, rather his perspective helped validate Growth Ensemble's business strategy early on.

The data supports this corridor approach:
• UAE-Singapore bilateral trade reached SGD 24.1 billion in 2024, with the UAE being Singapore's largest MENA trading partner
• The 2019 Singapore-UAE Comprehensive Partnership framework deepened collaboration across trade, investment, AI, and sustainability
• Recent agreements include the Green Economy Framework (2023) and AI cooperation MOUs (2024)

Also telling are the government signals: such as the GCC-ASEAN Framework of Cooperation 2024-2028, covering everything from renewable energy to digital transformation. Total GCC-ASEAN trade now exceeds $63 billion, making the GCC ASEAN's fifth-largest external trading partner. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has already proposed comprehensive FTA negotiations between the blocs. And the momentum is accelerating rapidly.

Just this week, we saw Presight (G42's UAE-based AI company) formalize a landmark agreement with Malaysia's government-owned MMAI Technologies at the ASEAN-GCC Economic Forum 2025. This builds directly on the 2024 UAE-Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

Rather than competing for the same wealthy individuals, these regions are building an integrated economic corridor. The smart money isn’t choosing between them – it’s investing across the entire GCC-SEA axis.

So... if you ask me, Singapore and Dubai aren't playing a match, rather they're a great match.