Dubai, United Arab Emirates—The Gemological Institute of America is slated to open a new laboratory in Dubai in mid-2023, leasing two floors of space in a new 79-floor skyscraper. 

According to DMCC, the new GIA lab in Dubai will occupy more than 41,000 square feet across two floors of the Uptown Tower, a 1,115-foot-high structure that’s a mix of offices, residential, retail and hotel space. 

It has signed a nine-year lease in the building. 

The lab’s custom design will “create new efficiencies” in GIA’s laboratory processes and services, DMCC said, and will use the latest technology, including advanced GIA instrumentation.

The opening of the lab is expected to create as many as 500 new jobs in Dubai.

“The growing importance of Dubai as a diamond center and its outstanding infrastructure make the DMCC an excellent choice for a significant expansion of GIA’s capacity,” Tom Moses, GIA executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer, said in DMCC’s announcement of the lease. 

“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.”

GIA said it will release more information on the new lab closer to its mid-2023 opening. 

It is LEED gold-certified and billed as “Dubai’s latest landmark.” 

Construction on the tower finished earlier this year. The structure is currently in its testing and commissioning phase, with completion set for the fourth quarter this year, DMCC said.