The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is set to triple in size over the next decade, as it looks to increase office space as part of a 10-year growth plan.

Under its 2024 strategy, DIFC expects to increase commercial office space to 511,000sqm, compared with 232,000sqm last year.

The combined workforce of companies registered with DIFC will almost triple from 17,860 to 50,000 over the next decade, according to a DIFC statement. Assets being managed by fund managers and financial institutions are expected to rise to an estimated $250 billion by 2024.

Essa Kazim, Governor of DIFC and Chairman of DIFC Authority, pointed to DIFC’s growth last year. “The number of registered firms climbed 18% to 1,225, with 242 new companies licensed in 2014 alone,” he said. 

Plans are also underway to enhance DIFC’s real estate offering, through a retail project, the centre said in the statement. The design is currently being finalised and the centre aims to complete the project by the second quarter of 2017.