In brief
Dubai Customs secured 17 awards (seven gold, seven silver, three bronze) at the Stevie Awards, capturing 71% of its 24 nominations. The agency earned top honors in AI, customer service, supply chain, partnership, sustainability and foresight categories. The prizes highlight projects—Al Munasiq, Shahin, Zero—that integrate AI, smart controls and circular economy principles, underscoring the 2026‑2030 strategy to enable trusted, environmentally responsible trade.
Dubai Customs announced that it had won 17 awards, including seven gold, seven silver and three bronze, at the seventh edition of the Stevie Awards for the Middle East and North Africa on 28 October 2026, marking its first appearance in the competition.
Out of 24 nominations, the agency achieved a 71% success rate, winning in a range of categories that spanned artificial intelligence, customer service, supply chain, partnerships, sustainability and foresight, the announcement from the Dubai Customs Media Office noted.
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.”
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.”
Sustainability Wins
The awards highlighted several initiatives that align with Dubai Customs’ commitment to circular economy practices, as the agency’s 2026‑2030 strategy emphasizes enabling trusted trade while integrating environmental stewardship.
One highlighted project, Al Munasiq, received three gold awards for its role in accelerating classification to support procedural accuracy and compliance, and is designed to reduce the environmental footprint of goods movement by streamlining customs clearance processes.
The Shahin project also featured, earning silver honors for using predictive analytics to identify risk efficiently, thereby limiting the need for extensive physical inspections and reducing resource consumption.
Dubai Customs’ Zero initiative, which secured a bronze prize, focuses on zero‑emission processing and aims to integrate circular economy principles into cargo logistics, recycling, and waste minimization across the trade corridor.
In addition to sustainability, the agency highlighted its use of artificial intelligence and smart controls to optimize supply chains, cut down paperwork, and lower the carbon intensity of customs operations, a move praised by environmental experts.
These award‑winning projects reflect the agency’s commitment to linked procedural efficiency with environmental responsibility, supporting Dubai’s broader goal of becoming an innovation hub for sustainable trade practices.
Dubai Customs’ performance at the Stevie Awards demonstrates that sustainability can coexist with trade efficiency, setting a benchmark for other customs authorities in the region to follow as they pursue greener logistics solutions.
