DUBAI, 28th October, 2026 (WAM) -- Dubai Customs won 17 awards at the seventh edition of the Stevie Awards for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in its first-ever participation in the competition, for projects and initiatives that reflect its drive to enable trusted trade by accelerating procedures, enhancing the reliability of goods movement, protecting intellectual property rights and building readiness for the future of trade.

The awards comprised seven gold, seven silver and three bronze, with 17 of its 24 nominations winning, a success rate of approximately 71%. The winning categories spanned artificial intelligence, customer service, supply chains, partnerships, sustainability and foresight, reflecting the integration of innovation across the customs work system.

The winning projects embody the direction of the Dubai Customs 2026-2030 strategy toward "Enabling Trusted Trade," through solutions that link procedural efficiency with the requirements of the business community and combine the speed of trade flows with effective control, supporting Dubai's competitiveness and its status as a global hub for trade and logistics.

Dr. Hussam Juma, Director of the Strategy and Corporate Excellence Department, said, "This achievement embodies the vision of our wise leadership in harnessing innovation to create tangible impact on government performance and the competitiveness of the economy. Our drive toward enabling trusted trade starts from understanding the needs of the business community and translates into clear procedures, reliable services and a goods flow in which speed is combined with protection. This is why we direct our projects toward improving the customer experience, strengthening compliance and raising the readiness of the customs system for the shifts taking place in global trade."

He added, "The winning projects show how artificial intelligence, smart control, partnerships and foresight tools come together to serve this direction, from accelerating goods classification and shipment tracking to protecting intellectual property rights and turning future-focused studies into opportunities for development. Our priority is to deepen the impact of these capabilities on trade efficiency and business community confidence, in support of the objectives of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33."

"Al Munasiq": Faster classification to support procedural accuracy and compliance

The "Al Munasiq" platform won three gold awards in the categories of AI Product Innovation, Product Innovation and Use of Technology in Customer Service.

In its second edition, the platform uses artificial intelligence and big data analytics to reduce the time required to classify goods under the Harmonised System (HS) code from a full day to just two seconds, and it has been downloaded by users in 117 countries. Its importance lies in helping customers arrive at the correct classification, improving customs data accuracy and compliance, and reducing the effort involved in determining goods codes, thereby improving the experience of completing trade transactions. The platform's adoption rate reached 86%, according to results announced in August 2025, while the participation data included indicators of significant growth in AI-supported classification operations, alongside financial savings.

The "Shahin" system received a gold award for Business Services Innovation and a silver award for Achievement in Collaboration and Partnerships, for its role in tracking trucks and shipments in real time across customs ports.

The system uses satellite technology and smart electronic seals along virtual customs corridors, issuing immediate alerts upon any deviation from the route, which strengthens the ability to monitor goods movement and manage risks. Its integration with the Green Corridor initiative helped sustain the flow of essential goods, including food and medicine, during regional supply-line challenges, demonstrating the role of smart control in protecting trade and enabling its movement. Across the Green Corridor initiative as a whole, between March 1 and June 30, 2026, it facilitated the movement of more than 203,000 containers and over 3.16 million tons of goods, valued at more than AED 33.9 billion, from 188 countries.

The "Zero" project won five awards-two gold, one silver and two bronze-for an initiative that combines the protection of intellectual property rights, the circular economy and humanitarian work.

The project converted more than 500,000 seized counterfeit items into resources for remanufacturing, producing more than 250,000 items of winter clothing for people in need and communities affected by crises and extreme weather conditions.

The project was implemented in partnership with Landmark Group, which handled conversion and manufacturing, and DP World, which managed logistics and distribution, linking the handling of seized goods to the protection of rights holders, ensuring counterfeit goods do not return to the market, reducing the environmental impact of destruction, and delivering humanitarian benefit from the recovered resources. The project also applied mechanisms to trace recycled materials across production stages, using QR codes to enhance transparency and traceability.

Dubai Customs' Foresight Program won gold in the Research Publications category for its foresight reports and silver for Thought Leadership, after producing 14 foresight studies, including eight flagship reports. The program also developed 84 future scenarios and 40 strategic recommendations, and 17 projects emerged from its outputs, according to the participation data.

The studies and future scenarios covered trade and free trade agreements, passenger movements, trademark protection, shipping and inspection operations, security, and Dubai's future as a global trade and logistics hub.

The program's outputs have yielded more than 40 innovation opportunities, including green corridors, trusted shipping corridors and mobile inspection units, providing a knowledge base that supports the development of initiatives and decisions and greater readiness for upcoming transformations, in line with the UAE Centennial 2071 vision.

The share of future scenarios used within the Future Readiness Index reached 66.36% during 2023-2025, based on a calculation method weighted by the number of scenarios. The program also helped embed foresight methodologies in Dubai Customs' strategic planning, including the preparation of the 2026-2030 Strategic Plan. Dubai Customs received international institutional accreditation in foresight from the Global Innovation Management Institute (GIMI), making it the first customs entity in the region to achieve this.

Dubai Customs' annual sustainability report won silver for Annual Report Innovation, while the SAT initiative won silver for Innovative Management in Government. The winning project is called the "Smart Analysis and Targeting Program." Dubai Customs' sustainability reports follow the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and cover environmental, social and economic performance and governance.

At the individual level, Mansoor Al Malik, Executive Director for Policies and Legislation Division, received bronze in the Most Innovative Leader in Sustainability category. Engineer Adel Al Suwaidi, Director of the Service Innovation Department, won silver as the Most Innovative Leader of 2026. Khalid Al Zarooni, Head of the Foresight Team, received silver in the Thought Leader of the Year - Foresight category.

The Dubai Customs delegation received the awards at the ceremony held at the InterContinental Istanbul in September 2026. The Stevie Awards for MENA recognize corporate innovation in business, services and management. These projects reflect Dubai Customs' drive to build a system that enables companies to conduct their business with clarity and reliability, supports the ability of supply chains to continue and adapt, and protects rights and resources, reinforcing the organization's role in enabling trade and supporting the growth of Dubai's economy.