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Dubai Starts App Development Program To Train 1,000 Emiratis
The scheme, called “Create Apps in Dubai” should triple the number of app creators by 2025.
On Wednesday, Dubai’s Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, launched a new ecosystem for developing digital applications and growing the pool of local talent within the emirate.
The scheme, known as Create Apps in Dubai, aims to transform Dubai into one of the world’s “most attractive destinations” for business opportunities. By 2025, the program should also have trained over 1,000 Emiratis and tripled the number of app creators. Additionally, 100 new national app projects will become available in digital stores over the next two years.

“The exponential growth of digital applications and platforms has created a new global competition for technological leadership. Dubai seeks to be at the forefront of this global race by providing a platform for fostering the development of 1,000 highly-skilled UAE nationals whose ideas and innovation will create a vibrant applications sector in Dubai,” says Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Dubai is seeking to solidify its position as a global capital of the digital economy, with the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33) plan preparing to help 30 private companies achieve $1 billion in value.
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With global smartphone sales exceeding $448 billion and 2 million new apps and games created in 2021 alone, the sector represents a massive opportunity for investors, entrepreneurs and tech startups to thrive.
Create Apps in Dubai will be overseen by the Dubai Chamber for Digital Economy, and support development plans to “empower UAE citizens to play key roles in realizing the country’s digital vision”, a recent statement said.
The UAE’s digital economy will be worth $140 billion by 2031, up from nearly $38 billion, according to recent figures from the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy.
News
LUVED Is A New Curated Preloved Marketplace For The UAE
Sellers keep 100 percent of every sale and AI can build a listing in five seconds — though the app’s smartest tools are still coming.
Secondhand shopping has become mainstream in the UAE, but the experience is still scattered across resale sites, social media and informal group chats. LUVED, a mobile-first marketplace that launched in Dubai this month, is betting it can pull that activity into one place — and that the thing buyers and sellers actually want is not more inventory, but trust.
The app trades in what it calls circular luxury: preloved fashion and lifestyle pieces across men’s, women’s and children’s categories, bought, sold or given away peer to peer. Its main pitch is economics, with sellers keeping 100 percent of every sale under a zero-commission, fast payout model, while buyers are promised vetted pieces at lower prices.
Where LUVED is staking its reputation is verification. Sellers pass a KYC check, and items run through a two-layer authentication system powered by Entrupy that pairs instant AI screening with human expert review for high-value pieces. Authenticity certificates travel with each item, payments sit in escrow, and a buyer-protection package the company calls The Safety Net adds a 48-hour return window and dispute resolution. Door-to-door logistics removes the in-person meetups that make most resale deals awkward.
An in-app assistant called Luvbot — offering selling insights and demand-based recommendations — is soon to be introduced to the platform. Other features include autofill and dynamic pricing that lets users build a listing in as little as five seconds from three photos, plus a swipe-based feed, story-style drops and in-app chat in English and Arabic. Finally, a gifting layer, Luved & Gifted, lets users pass items to others inside the app rather than sell them.
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“After moving to Dubai, I saw how difficult it was to sell or even give things away,” says founder and CEO Shaima Sibtain. The friction is real, and so is the competition. In resale, trust is won transaction by transaction — and that is the test LUVED has set itself.
The app is live on the App Store now, with Google Play to follow. The company also plans to expand across the region, which will be the real test for a marketplace staking everything on trust.
