Dubai Highlights Investment Opportunities in Free zones

Continuing their successful Talk Business at Breakfast initiative right into 2012, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry organised recently the first networking meeting of the year at its head office. With its idea of offering a crucial line of communication between the private and public sectors, the networking meeting was presided over by H.E.

Hamad Buamim, Director General, Dubai Chamber, and hosted H.E. Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, Director ?General of Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority (DAFZA) and ?Chairman of Dubai Free Zones Council.In his welcome address, H.E. Buamim emphasised the importance of initiatives like Talk Business at Breakfast which he said goes on to bridge the gap between private and public sectors and helps the business community find solutions to their everyday problems as well as overcome obstacles by discussing their issues face to face with the relevant government officials, he added.

H.E. Buamim further stressed that this networking meeting that comes directly under Dubai Chamber’s strategic objectives of creating a favourable business environment and supporting the development of business helps improve the competitiveness of the business community while enhancing the public, private sector partnership which is one of the driving forces behind the success of Dubai’s economy,” he said. H.E. Buamim took the opportunity to highlight Dubai Chamber members’ exports and re-export figures which valued at AED ?20.8 billion for the month of January, registering an increase of 4.7% in comparison to January 2011 figures while the members’ exports and re-exports reached the highest value in its history of operations as they registered AED 246 billion, which is an increase of 14.5% on 2010 while the number of exporters rose to 5,340 who exported goods to 168 markets around the world. Buamim thanked H.E. Al Zarooni on behalf of Dubai’s business community for attending the networking meeting and praised the efforts of DAFZA in providing an excellent free zone facility which he said is responsible for attracting global investors while contributing to the economic growth of the Emirate.

For his part, H.E. Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, Director General of Dubai Airport Freezone and chairman of Dubai Free Zones Council, shed light on the newly established Dubai Free Zones Council and the benefits it will provide to the international investors seeking to utilize Dubai platform . He said,” The key objective of establishing the council is to unify and standardize the measures and procedures of registering and licensing new businesses.” This will cut the time and efforts an investor or a company might waste spinning from one Free Zone to another.We aim at going beyond the customers’ expectations via creating a one-shop- window, he added.
<> The new council will mainly work on unifying the rules and regulations and create a platform for the foreign investors to address their concerns and ideas. The 22 Free zones in Dubai is today accommodating more than 19,000 companies active in various sectors and recruiting around 26,000 employees. The Free Zones in Dubai are contributing substantially in the Emirate’s economy with more than 33% of the total GDP.” answered the business community’s questions on setting up business in Dubai Airport Freezone. He praised the role of Dubai Chamber in supporting business growth and the promotion of Dubai as an international hub for business and finance and its contribution to putting Dubai on the world economic map.

“Dubai continues to increase its influence throughout the global business community and we see a number of companies setting up their regional head quarters in Dubai, due to the access we can provide across MENA. The Talk Business at Breakfast networking meetings organised by Dubai Chamber from time to time helps build strong alliances, open communication channels with key regional and international trade partners and facilitate networking opportunities for the business community while enhancing their competitiveness in the global trading arena.