DUBAI: Dubai continues to attract foreign investors at a record pace, with 53,838 new companies joining the Dubai Chamber of Commerce in the first nine months of 2025.

Pakistani firms ranked second among non-UAE investors, with 4,281 new registrations, underlining the emirate’s growing importance as a hub for trade, investment, and regional business expansion, according to the report.

The chamber reported that the total value of members’ exports and re-exports rose to AED 260 billion, representing a 16% increase compared to the same period last year.

During this period, the chamber also issued 627,908 Certificates of Origin, up 9% from 2024, and processed 3,743 ATA Carnets for goods valued at around AED 3.69 billion, reflecting robust international trade activity.

According to H1 (Jan to June) 2025 nationality-specific data, Indian-owned companies led new memberships with 9,038 registrations, followed by Pakistan’s 4,281 firms, Egypt’s 2,540, and Bangladesh with 1,541 new companies, reflecting strong year-on-year growth.

The United Kingdom ranked fifth with 1,385 new companies, while Syria, China, Jordan, Türkiye, and Canada rounded out the top ten foreign investors.

The chamber also supported the international expansion of 90 local companies, a 20% rise compared to 2024, and reviewed 42 laws and draft laws, with private-sector recommendations achieving a 64% adoption rate. Mediation cases handled by the chamber reached 146, with a combined value of AED 230 million.

Pakistani investors are increasingly taking advantage of opportunities in trade, logistics, e-commerce, and family-owned enterprises, benefiting from Dubai’s growing business ecosystem, trade facilitation services, and legislative support.

Zohran Mamdani’s election as New York mayor caps an extraordinary rise for the leftist local lawmaker who emerged from relative obscurity to lead a supercharged campaign for the US megacity’s top job.

Since his surprise victory in the Democratic Party primary in June, New Yorkers have become used to seeing his bearded, smiling face on television — and on badges proudly worn by his supporters.

The 34-year-old election winner was born in Uganda to a family of Indian origin and has lived in the United States since he was seven, becoming a naturalized US citizen in 2018.

He is the son of filmmaker Mira Nair (“Monsoon Wedding,” “Mississippi Masala”) and Mahmood Mamdani, a professor and respected Africa expert — leading some of his detractors to call him a “nepo baby.”

He followed a path paved by other youngsters from elite liberal families, attending the elite Bronx High School of Science followed by Bowdoin College in Maine, a university seen as a bastion of progressive thought.

Under the alias “Young Cardamom,” he ventured into the world of rap in 2015, influenced by hip-hop group “Das Racist,” which had two members of Indian origin who played with references and tropes from the subcontinent.

Mamdani’s attempt to break into the competitive world of professional music did not last, with the performer-turned-politician calling himself a second-rate artist.

He took an interest into politics when he learned that rapper Himanshu Suri, who performed under the alias Heems, was supporting a candidate for city council — and joined that campaign as an activist.

Mamdani went on to become a foreclosure prevention counselor, helping financially struggling homeowners avoid losing their homes.

He was elected in 2018 as a lawmaker from Queens, a melting pot of predominantly poor and migrant communities, representing the area in the New York State Assembly.

‘Disaffected voters’

The self-proclaimed socialist, who has been re-elected three times, put the goal of making the city affordable for everyone who are not wealthy, the majority of its approximately 8.5 million residents, at the heart of his campaign.

He has promised more rent control, free day care and buses, and city-run neighborhood grocery stores.

Mamdani is also a long-standing supporter of the Palestinian cause, although his positions on Israel — which he has called an “apartheid regime” while branding the war in Gaza a “genocide” — have drawn the ire of some in the Jewish community.

In recent months he has made a point of vocally denouncing antisemitism — as well as the Islamophobia he has suffered.

Playing the race card, President Donald Trump, who calls Mamdani a “little communist,” denounced him as a “a proven and self professed JEW HATER” Tuesday as New Yorkers were heading to the polls.

Mamdani is something of an establishment “outsider,” according to Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Northeastern University.

“He has managed to galvanize support from disaffected voters and others in New York City who are dissatisfied with the status quo and with an establishment that they perceive to be overlooking their needs and policy preferences,” he said.

Mamdani, a keen soccer and cricket fan, recently married US illustrator Rama Duwaji, and put his experience of activism to work in a strategically coordinated canvassing and leaflet campaign that he has paired with an extensive and often humorous use of social media.

“He really is a kind of an hybrid of a great 1970s campaign and a great 2025 campaign,” said Lincoln Mitchell, a Columbia University professor.

Kendall Jenner just had an intimate birthday celebration on her 30th birthday.

Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, the reality TV star, who turned 30 years old on November 3, shared a carousel of photos and videos from her birthday celebration.

The post featured stunning shots from the intimate celebration with her friends and family joining her. The pictures showed her mom Kris Jenner, and sisters Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian and Kylie Jenner.

Notably, Hailey Bieber, Kendall’s longtime pal also joined the birthday bash.

In the caption, Kendall simply wrote, “30.”

Fans and followers flooded the comments section with their love for The Kardashians star.

One user wrote, “Happy birthday you beautiful woman, you!!!!!”

Khloe also joined the comments section, writing, “The absolute best celebrating the absolute best human.”

This comes after Kendall Jenner received special birthday tributes from her friends and families.

Khloe Kardashian also posted photos from Kendall’s birthday bash alongside a heartfelt note. She wrote, “To my baby sister, my forever girl, happy 30th birthday.”

“I can’t believe you’re thirty. It feels impossible and yet, here you are; more radiant, grounded, and beautifully you than ever before,” she added.

Calling her sweet angel, Khloe Kardashian also wrote, “I’ll keep cheering you on through every chapter, holding your hand through every shift, and celebrating every magical moment that comes your way.”