Sheikh Hamdan Names Six More Dubai-it Award Winners Across Banking, Trade and Hospitality
Emirates NBD, DMCC's Ahmed bin Sulayem, OMNIYAT's Mahdi Amjad, Ounass, Humantra's Charlie Wright and Chef Izu Ani take the latest honours in the inaugural round.
Six more winners of the inaugural Dubai-it Awards have been named by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai. The recipients span banking, commodity trade, luxury property, e-commerce, consumer brands and restaurants.
The award recognises individuals, businesses, institutions and projects that show exceptional execution, innovation and measurable impact across Dubai's economic sectors. It was launched under Sheikh Hamdan's directives and will be given annually. He set out the bar in a single line: extraordinary achievement, in record time, with excellence. The prize, he said, was created to showcase Dubai's work philosophy across every field.
Emirates NBD takes the institutions category
Emirates NBD won the Institutions category in the Economic Field. The bank was honoured for a large-scale banking transformation, for regional expansion and for digital innovation. It has doubled its business size in recent years and stands as the UAE's leading bank by revenue, deposits and profitability. Its digital banking ecosystem carries more than 220 services, and 91% of its customers use digital channels.
DMCC and the diamond trade
Ahmed bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and CEO of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, won the Project Managers category. He was recognised for turning DMCC into a global trade hub. The centre now hosts more than 26,000 companies from over 180 countries and employs more than 90,000 people. Bin Sulayem also helped develop Dubai's diamond trading ecosystem, work that preceded the emirate becoming the world's largest hub for rough and polished diamond trading. Dubai has expanded its position in gold, precious metals, coffee and tea as well.
OMNIYAT's Mahdi Amjad in real estate
Mahdi Amjad, founder and Executive Chairman of OMNIYAT, received the Real Estate Projects award for his contribution to Dubai's luxury property market. The developer has collaborated with architects and designers including Zaha Hadid and Foster + Partners, and its landmark developments include The Opus and The Lana. The Lana is Dorchester Collection's first hotel in the Middle East.
Three further awards were announced in the Services, Entrepreneurship and Hospitality categories.
Ounass, the luxury e-commerce platform founded by Khalid Al Tayer, was recognised in Services for its rapid delivery model. The company achieves an average delivery time of 89 minutes in Dubai.
Charlie Wright, founder of Humantra, took the Entrepreneurship award. The Dubai-born electrolyte brand has expanded into 10 international markets and reached more than two million customers within 15 months.
Chef Izu Ani was honoured in Hospitality. He has developed 30 restaurant and hospitality projects, among them Gaia, Carine, Shanghai Me and La Maison Ani. His concepts have travelled abroad to London, Miami, Monte Carlo and Saint-Tropez.
The six join recipients named earlier in the inaugural cycle, among them Emaar Properties, Ziina, FIX Dessert Chocolatier and Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
Sheikh Hamdan said Dubai-it is a philosophy of work that applies across every sector, and that it delivers results worthy of Dubai's name and its projects. He congratulated all the winners of the first edition.
The spread of the list is the point. A bank with 91% digital adoption, a commodities centre with 26,000 tenant companies, a delivery platform clocking 89 minutes and a restaurant group opening in Miami are different kinds of businesses, judged on different scoreboards. What the award asks of each of them is the same. Dubai's economic strategy has long leaned on the promise of speed — in licensing, free zone formation, construction — and the Dubai-it framing extends that promise from process to output: how quickly an idea becomes something that works. For companies, the practical reading is that expansion abroad counts as evidence at home. Humantra's 10 markets, Ounass's delivery times and Chef Izu Ani's four overseas cities are being tallied as achievements of Dubai's economy rather than departures from it.
The awards are annual, and the next set of names will be measured against the standard Sheikh Hamdan attached to the first: record time, with excellence.
