(IDEX Online) - GIA is to open a lab in Dubai for the first time, it was announced today.It is scheduled to open in mid-2023, offering its services to over 1,150 diamond companies at the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC).News follows an announcement in February that Dubai had overtaken Antwerp as the top trading hub globally for rough diamonds - over $22.8bn in 2021.The move "reflects Dubai's status as a global hub for business," said the DMCC in a statement.The new GIA lab will occupy over 41,000 square feet across two floors of the 340m-high Uptown Tower (pictured), as part of a nine-year deal."Dubai's close proximity to the important diamond manufacturing and producing centers, in addition to efficient transportation links to global diamond markets, will help support our clients and, very importantly, extend our important consumer protection mission," said Tom Moses, GIA executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer.Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman and chief executive officer, DMCC, said: "The addition of the GIA to our business district further solidifies and forges our strategy of building an interconnected business community that supports and encourages global trade."