 Historically , Dubai and its twin across Dubai Creek , Deira ( independent of Dubai City at that time ) , were important ports of call for Western manufacturers . Most of the new city 's banking and financial centres were headquartered in the port area . Dubai maintained its importance as a trade route through the 1970s and 1980s . Dubai has a free trade in gold and , until the 1990s , was the hub of a " brisk smuggling trade " of gold ingots to India , where gold import was restricted . Dubai 's Jebel Ali port , constructed in the 1970s , has the largest man @-@ made harbour in the world and was ranked seventh globally for the volume of container traffic it supports . Dubai is also a hub for service industries such as information technology and finance , with industry @-@ specific free zones throughout the city . Dubai Internet City , combined with Dubai Media City as part of <unk> ( Dubai Technology , Electronic Commerce and Media Free Zone Authority ) , is one such enclave , whose members include IT firms such as Hewlett @-@ Packard , EMC Corporation , Oracle Corporation , Microsoft , Dell and IBM , and media organisations such as MBC , CNN , BBC , Reuters , Sky News and AP . 
