Maktoum greets PayPal on opening its new hub in Dubai Internet City

Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Finance of the UAE, on Wednesday met with Suzan Kereere, President, Global Markets at PayPal, one of the world’s leading digital payment platforms.

During the meeting, Sheikh Maktoum congratulated PayPal on the opening of its new regional hub in Dubai Internet City and affirmed Dubai’s commitment to supporting its continued growth and success in the region. The new hub will serve as PayPal’s operational base for 80 countries across the Middle East and Africa.

Sheikh Maktoum also highlighted the UAE’s vision to be a leading player in accelerating the global shift towards a digital economy. He underscored Dubai’s ambition to create a dynamic and resilient financial ecosystem that fosters innovation, safeguards trust, and unlocks opportunity across borders. Discussions explored avenues for partnerships in digital payment systems, supporting the growth of SMEs and e-commerce, and enhancing cross-border financial connectivity, capitalising on the UAE’s strengths in the industry.

He noted that Dubai’s advanced regulatory environment and future-ready digital infrastructure have made it an ideal base for global financial institutions seeking to expand into high-growth emerging markets in the region. PayPal’s growing operations in the region, using Dubai as a base, reflects the city’s rising stature as a hub for next-generation financial services and its progress towards becoming one of the world’s top four financial centres under the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, he added.Founded in 1998, PayPal serves over 430 million customers across more than 200 markets, enabling seamless, secure digital transactions. The company processed nearly $1.7 trillion in payment volume and recorded $31.8 billion in net revenue in 2024. The meeting was attended by Helal Almarri, Director General of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism; Hesham Al Qassim, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Emirates NBD; and Malek Al Malek, Chairman of TECOM Group.

PayPal, the global digital commerce platform, has today opened a new hub in Dubai, which serves as the company’s first-ever regional headquarters in the Middle East and Africa. The Dubai Internet City site strengthens PayPal’s commitment to its customers and partners in the region and commitment to enabling millions more consumers and businesses to access the global digital economy.

PayPal’s expanded presence will bring global commerce capabilities to the region, including frictionless payments, robust security, and broader access to international payment networks to help large enterprises and small businesses sell across borders.

Speaking from the Dubai AI Festival 2025 today, Suzan Kereere, President of Global Markets at PayPal, said: “PayPal is uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between consumers and businesses for cross-border commerce, fostering growth in local economies. We proudly serve over 430 million customers worldwide today, and we hope to reach many more from our new regional hub for the Middle East and Africa. We want to empower businesses in this region to connect with our global consumers, while enabling consumers here to shop with confidence internationally.” Suzan added, “As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the way we shop and pay, PayPal is developing its next generation shopping experiences at speed, including smart wallets and agentic commerce.” The announcement comes on the back of a series of major merchant and partner deals PayPal has signed in the region in recent months.

Otto Williams, Senior Vice President, Regional Head and General Manager of PayPal Middle East and Africa, said, “Through strategic partnerships with banks, fintechs, telecommunications providers, and other commerce players, we can collectively expand access to the global digital economy.

WAM