In the future, humans will no longer have to be on site to operate cranes at Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, the Chairman of DP World has said.

Speaking about 'The Future of Smart Trade' on Day 3 of the World Government Summit, His Excellency Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem – also the Chairman of the Ports, Customs and Freezone Corporation – said: “A crane operator can only sit for three hours, because after three hours, the shaking and the jerking will hurt them.

“[But then we thought] Why do we need to be in Jebel Ali [to operate the crane]? Now we are building crane operating control system in Dubai in Port Rashid to handle our port in Jebel Ali.”

Sulayem said DP World enables trade in 50% of the world’s economy and Dubai's logistics-airport-port triangle plays a huge role in that success, serving as a model for other country.

He said: “Having a logistics park, airport and port in the same area is a dream for people in trade. It allows cargo to move seamlessly. We are [developing] the same [model] in Dominican Republic because we know it succeeded in Dubai.”

He added: "In our business, when you measure by container, 1% growth in GDP translates to 3% container increase. So it is very vital for us to see growth.”

The Jebel Ali Free Zone contributes to 20% of Dubai’s GDP – and is projected to contribute to 50% of Dubai GDP by 2025.