Dubai will stake its claim to be the Hong Kong of the Arab world on Monday when it launches a new stock exchange promising world-class regulation and products such as futures and options that are unique in the region.
Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) will form the centrepiece of Dubai International Financial Centre, a state-run offshore zone launched last year in the hope of dominating financial services in the world's biggest oil producing region.
Questions about corporate governance have threatened to tarnish the launch and the DIFX is yet to announce a date for the listing of a single major firm. But analysts say the booming Gulf emirate has reason to be optimistic about its new bourse.
About a dozen international banks have already moved in to the investment zone, including Credit Suisse, Barclays Capital and Merrill Lynch.
Dubai hopes DIFX will lure many more, along with international investors and regional firms looking for funding.
"On September 26, Dubai joins the financial capitals of the world," read glossy DIFX adverts in the financial press.
THEY SHOW A WORLD MAP WITH JUST FOUR CITIES: New York, London, Hong Kong and Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates.
Zahed Chowdhury, equity analyst at HSBC in Dubai, believes the emirate can build on its role as the region's trade and tourism hub to expand into finance.
Despite these encouraging signs, DIFX faces challenges. When it launches on Monday the bourse will only trade five securities tracking US, European and Japanese indices.