Dr Al Zarooni presents a memento to Qingwei

a chinese delegation headed by Zhang Qingwei, Governor of Hebei Province, visited the headquarters of the Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority (Dafza) to learn the secrets of its success.

Dr Mohammed Al Zarooni, director general of the authority, said Dafza was committed to innovation and excellence in services, smart transformation and benchmarking to provide an integrated smart environment which could live up to the international business community’s expectations. 

“We look forward to transferring our logistics and administrative expertise in free zone management to our peers in China,” Al Zarooni said. The official noted that Dafza had been providing for more than 20 years best practices and integrated services to the business community, making it an attractive and pioneering model for businesses. He said the strategic partnerships Dafza had forged with leading international and multinational companies from various sectors would significantly spur trade exchanges between the UAE and China and promote the UAE’s position as the largest Middle East partner to China.

Al Zarooni also invited Chinese businessmen to leverage the many available growth opportunities in Dubai in line with ongoing preparations for Expo Dubai 2020.

Li Lingbing, Beijing’s consul-general in Dubai, highlighted that Dafza’s experience made it one of the key players in Dubai’s economic development.

Lingbing praised the free zone’s efforts in offering Chinese investors the means to build what she described as a robust presence in emerging regional markets. She underlined Dafza’s competitive features, beginning from its strategic location to integrated infrastructure, investment incentives, modern facilities, smart solutions and high-level logistics and administrative services.

A statement from the free zone said Dafza has signed a number of agreements with Chinese consultants and government bodies to further support bilateral trade relations between the UAE and China.

“The free zone continues its efforts to implement its ambitious marketing plan with the aim of reaching the top markets in Europe, the US and Asia and attracting leading international and multinational companies to work within one of the best free zones in the Middle East and worldwide,” it added.


SINGAPORE EVENT

Dafza, meanwhile, held a seminar in Singapore with the aim of attracting local investors to Dubai and building strong ties with the Southeast Asian country’s growing business community

Held in collaboration with the Singapore Business Federation, the seminar featured Dafza’s wealth of incentives and benefits designed to support global businesses seeking to establish a strategic market footprint in the emirate of Dubai and the rest of the Mena region. It also served as an interactive platform to highlight Dubai’s continuing progress towards becoming one of the world’s leading business hubs. 

Several business meetings with Singaporean companies took place after the seminar titled, “Dubai: Where Global Businesses Meet.”

Singaporean firms are among the top Asia-Pacific companies operating in the free zone and are engaged in electronics, jewellery and precious stones, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, nutrition and medical products, and automobiles.

Jamal Bin Marghoob, director, marketing and corporate communications at Dafza, said: “Dafza supports Dubai’s transformation into an investment-driven economy according to the government’s initiative to diversify away from oil dependence and establish diverse sources of income.”