Dubai – Mubasher: UAE legislators should draft a law that imposes a 51% local shareholding limit on e-commerce business, including payment service firms and logistics companies, to protect the global economy from giant e-retailers like Amazon, Emaar’s founder Mohamed Alabbar said.

The UAE should follow China in its policies to confine foreign shareholding, he told Al Khaleej newspaper.

“China, for example, has taken many measures to ensure that its economy is protected from foreign interference, such as enforcing regulations that ensure that Chinese companies or individuals have at least 51% ownership of e-commerce websites’ payment systems.”

Such foreign e-commerce giants put the national economy at risk, the top official remarking, noting that Amazon is a “threat” to the domestic market.

Alabbar stated that Noon.com, a platform developed by the Emirati tycoon, encourages competition on a national scale, adding that he will never sell it to a foreign entity.