PAKISTAN PROVINCE CM VISITS DUBAI AIRPORT FREEZONE

Pakistan’s Punjab Province Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, yesterday led a 30-member high level business delegation to visit Dubai Airport Freezone to explore joint ventures and business opportunities with the Freezone Senior Executives.

The delegates were received by Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, Director General of Dubai Airport Freezone. The Chief Minister and the delegation were briefed on the services and facilities that Dubai Airport Freezone provides to foreign investors and multinational firms.

Welcoming the delegates, Dr. Al Zarooni, said, “Dubai keeps its gate widely open for foreign investors who seek suitable business opportunities in the region.”

“As part of its strategy to attract more companies from different parts of the world, Dubai Airport Freezone has spared no effort to facilitate the operations of various industries and multinational companies operating within its vicinity,” added Dr. Al Zarooni.

He said, “Foreign investors and international companies are not only seeking a good place to set up their business, but also a suitable business environment and partner who can understand their commercial needs.”

“The Freezone has taken advantage of its suitable location in the center of Dubai and close to the international airport to grow exponentially.

“ I would like to assure investors best services and many attractive incentives including tax exemptions, no import duties and repatriation of profits.”

“As a matter of fact, this area has its unique position as the only Freezone located near the international airport, which attracts all the companies working in the export and re-export trade using air freight services,” said Al Zarooni.

Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, said, ”We are quite impressed by the facilities and the services Dubai has built to attract foreign business and world major firms.”

“Our key objective to visit Dubai and Dubai Airport Freezone is to seek joint ventures and business opportunities and add to our knowledge of the progress taking place in Dubai.”

He said, ”There is ample business opportunities both in your place and in Punjab for businessmen from Dubai and Punjab to utilize effectively.”

“We shall work together with all Dubai commercial entities to ensure that both parties benefit from each other in every way,” said Shahbaz.

The members of the delegation are made up of businessmen in the rice, food exporting business, chemicals, real estate, construction, agriculture, dairy, meat, venture capital and investments sector.

Dubai Airport Freezone has been named the Best Freezone in the Middle East region and the Second Best in the world by the premier Foreign Direct Investment (fdi) magazine of Financial Times. 

TOP RICHEMONT OFFICIALS CALL ON HH SHEIKH AHMED BIN SAEED AL MAKTOUM

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Airport Freezone recently received four top

officials of the Swiss luxury goods group Richemont, who have their regional office at the Freezone.



The four officials included Richard Lepeu, Richemont Deputy CEO, Hans-Peter Bichelmeter, Richemont Group

Operations Director, Matthias A. Schuler, CEO Richemont Group Europe and Dr. Christoph F. Thomet, Chief

Operating Officer Richemont Dubai, were accompanied by Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, Director General of the Dubai

Airport Freezone during the courtesy meeting.



Welcoming the delegates, Sheikh Ahmed said, “Being one of the most important partners of Dubai Airport Freezone, I

would like to assure Richemont of our full support to ensure that you continue to do business in a conducive and pro-

business environment.”

HH Sheikh Ahmed said that the presence of prestigious international brands of the Richemont group in the Freezone

sends a positive signal to the business community, particularly on the advantages of opening up a regional office in

Dubai.



“Our future plans include the construction of new buildings, enhancement of facilities and improvement of our services

to cater to the demands of companies at the Freezone for their current operation needs and for possible future

expansion within the Freezone,” he added.



Dr. Thomet, said: “We find the facilities, services and support provided to the tenants at the Dubai Airport Freezone of

a very high standard.

“We have a long standing relationship and close collaboration with the Freezone spanning a decade, having been a

tenant from the very inception”.



He added: “Dubai Airport Freezone offers several benefits to multinational corporations such as Richemont including

tax free incentives and one-stop-shop accessibility to logistical and administrative support that is essential to carrying

out our business in a smooth and systematic way,” he added.



Dr. Thomet further stressed on the long-term potential of doing business in and through Dubai, and underlined the

fact that Richemont uses Dubai as its regional business hub to do business throughout the neighboring GCC region,

Levant, Indian subcontinent and Turkey.



During the visit, the officials apprised Sheikh Ahmed on developments at the company and its plans for the region.

Sheikh Ahmed also briefed the Swiss officials on the resurgent Dubai economy and numerous opportunities offered by

the Gulf and Middle East countries.



Richemont owns several of the world's leading companies in the field of luxury goods, with particular strengths in

jewellery, luxury watches and writing instruments.



The Group's luxury interests encompass several of the most prestigious names in the luxury industry including A.

Lange & Sohne, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Chloe, Dunhill, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Montblanc, Panerai, Piaget, Roger



Dubuis, Vacheron Constantin and Van Cleef & Arpels.



Dubai Airport Freezone has introduced key services this year by way of offering a variety of facilities to investors. In

this regard, among its key achievements were the inauguration of Noor Islamic Bank and launching of Medical Fitness

Centre in collaboration with Dubai Health Authority, which has significantly contributed to improving and expediting the

medical fitness procedures.



Dubai Airport Freezone has also acquired an ISO certification for its high quality customer service centre with a strong

reputation for promptly responding to the complaints of customers. An awards ceremony was also held for investors

who demonstrated responsibility and took initiatives in environmental and safety issues.



The Freezone’s new office complex project is well underway. The complex will feature new facilities including a

business centre and a food outlet, which will offer a more convenient service to its tenants.

Established in 1996 as a part of the Dubai Government’s strategic plan to be an investment driven economy,

Dubai Airport Freezone is one of the fastest growing premium free zones in the region. The free zone is currently

home to over 1450 companies from various industry sectors, including aviation, freight and logistics, IT and

telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, engineering, food & beverage, jewelry and cosmetics.

JAPANESE COMPANIES AT DUBAI AIRPORT FREEZONE INCREASE 130% COMPARED TO 2008

Aware of the market dynamics in Dubai and opportunities available in the Gulf markets, Japanese businessmen showed interest in Dubai Airport Freezone booth at Messe Kobe Exhibition making it a big success with an “ overwhelming” number of inquiries received.

Ibrahim Ahli, Director of Marketing & Corporate Communications, at Dubai Airport Freezone, said “We received an overwhelming number of inquiries during the exhibition that concluded recently. This was the second time that the Freezone has participated in the Messe Kobe exhibition.”

“With a dramatically increasing number of Japanese companies in the Freezone, the Japanese market and companies are high in the agenda of the Freezone’s target audience.”

According to statistics compiled by Dubai Airport Freezone, the number of Japanese companies at the Freezone has increased more than 130 percent last year – (2009) compared to 2008.

Ahli said, “Japanese institutional investors are very much aware of the potential of Dubai and the central location of Dubai Airport Freezone and the services and facilities it offers to its investors.”

He added, Asian investors are looking for a haven for their investments and also seek business opportunities in the growing markets of the GCC.

Ahli characterized Japanese companies “As long term clients with the benefit of a potential technology transformation in the region. Exhibitions are strong marketing vehicles in Japan; with results expected later generate results in the short term.”

SHEIKH RASHID BIN HAMDAN AL NUAIMI OF AJMAN FREE ZONE AGREES ON FUTURE COOPERATION WITH DUBAI AIRPORT FREEZONE

Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Al Nuaimi, Director of Planning and Strategic Development Department, Ajman Free Zone paid a visit to Dubai Airport Freezone as part of the program of exchanging information and best practices and set up cooperation between free zones in the country.

He was accompanied by a delegation of officials from Ajman Free Zone. Mr. Nasser Al Madani, Assistant Director General, with a number of Dubai Airport Freezone senior executives, welcomed the delegation and noted that "Free zones in the country have been contributing in promoting the national economy by attracting foreign investments and providing greater opportunities for foreign investors."

Mr. Al Madani added that the free zones in the country complement each other by providing multiple options for all sectors of foreign investments as each free zone has its unique characteristic which is a major attraction for foreign investors.

He said that this meeting is an opportunity to take advantage of each other's experiences to improve performance and services to investors.

The delegation listened to a full review of the most important services and facilities provided by the Dubai Airport Freezone, specially the facilities for storage operations in the light industrial units that are needed by the international companies.

Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Al Nuaimi said, "The key objective of our visit to Dubai Airport Freezone is to identify excellent services that the Freezone has delivered to its customers.”

“Since its inception in mid 1980s, Ajman Free Zone have made good strides and contributed effectively to attract companies from around the world," he added.

Al Nuaimi stressed the importance of sharing experiences with the free zones in the country to benefit from their experiences and challenges.

"The facilities we have seen and the excellent service offered to the foreign investors in Dubai Airport Freezone are the contributing factors to its success and enables Dubai Freezone to achieve their objectives," he added.

In conclusion, Sheikh Al Nuaimi invited top officials of the free zones to visit Ajman Free Zone.