Ministry of Economy

The UAE Ministry of Economy continues its push into the Metaverse with the announcement of a "third address" located in a virtual world.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Economy has announced a new headquarters located where anyone in the world can visit — the Metaverse. 

According to Gulf News, the announcement was made on Sept. 28 by UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri during the Dubai Metaverse Assembly, with the minister stating “this is not a proof of concept, this is our third address” before giving a live tour of the virtual headquarters.

The headquarters will feature a multiple story building, each serving a different purpose. Visitors will be able to take a ticket, which will prompt a “customer happiness center employee” to join the Metaverse and interact with the visitor.

The new headquarters will complement the ministry’s two existing offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, allowing the ministry to make digital services a bigger part of its operations following directives to do so from UAE leadership.

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Visitors to the virtual headquarters will be able to sign legally binding documents, which eliminates the need for signatories to visit one of their physical locations in order to provide their signatures.

The headquarters also contains an auditorium that can facilitate virtual conferences and other events and meeting rooms that allow users to share a screen.

The announcement follows Dubai’s government's Metaverse strategy revealed on Jul. 18, which aims to create virtual 40,000 jobs by 2030 and support the government’s vision of increasing the number of blockchain companies to five times the current number.