Ras Al Khaimah

Rakez drives Ras Al Khaimah's industrial exports

Rakez: rising numbers

In a year fraught with Covid-19 challenges, Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (Rakez), witnessed a 15.38 per cent increase in the number of active companies between 2017 and 2020, rising from 13,000 in 2017 to 15,000 in 2020.

“We are happy with the growth and progressions we have been seeing in our zone and we are excited for more opportunities ahead,” Rakez Group CEO Ramy Jallad told the Gulf Industry in an exclusive interview.

The industrial hub currently hosts more than 15,000 companies from around the world, most of which are from India, the UK, Pakistan, the UAE, and France and practice their activities in an environment that motivates prosperity in their areas of work.

In fact, Indians are the most represented nationality in the zone, making up to 22.8 per cent of its total population of 15,000 companies. This is followed by British at 7 per cent, Pakistanis at 5.2 per cent, Emiratis at 5 per cent and French at 4.5 per cent.

Rakez has offered new packages to companies

Rakez has offered new packages to companies

Situated in the heart of Ras Al Khaimah, Rakez is a powerhouse business and industrial hub that offers customisable solutions to free zone and non-free zone businesses in a multinational community flourishing in over 50 sectors.

These areas include the commercial sector accounting for 43 per cent of registered companies, followed by the services sector accounting for 34 per cent, general trade for seven per cent, the media for four per cent, and the industrial sector for 3.7 per cent.

Of these, manufacturing sector continues to play a key role in the economy of Ras Al Khaimah. In fact, manufacturing sector exports grew 58 per cent in 2019 with 137 countries importing products from Ras Al Khaimah, according to Jallad.

“Our industrial zones contributed 87.7 per cent of the total exports in the emirate in 2019. Industrial exports in Ras Al Khaimah have a great role in maintaining the economic stability,” he added.

In 2019, Rakez launched Ras Al Khaimah Industrial Strategy with the goal to increase manufacturing jobs and boost the manufacturing sector’s contribution to Ras Al Khaimah’s economy by 2030.

Some of the prominent manufacturing businesses that have joined Rakez in the last year are:  KDF EPDM Rubber Flooring Industry Ecogame, a tyres and rubber products manufacturer; Ni Met Recycling, which deals in metal scrap processing; Crystal Arc Factory, a glass and crystal bottles and containers manufacturer; National Ready Mix Concrete, a ready-mix and dry-mix concrete and mortars manufacturing company and many others.

Other sectors also showed significant growth in 2020, such as e-commerce, it added. “We saw a boom in the e-commerce segment, which experienced 153 per cent rise from last year,” Jallad said.

Jallad: excited for more opportunities

Jallad: excited for more opportunities

During the coronavirus pandemic, which hit the world in the first quarter of 2020, Rakez launched new business establishments and new product incentive packages to attract investors to Ras Al Khaimah.

Rakez also offered a new package to global companies to encourage them to establish their headquarters in Ras Al Khaimah, by ensuring easy and cost-efficient procedures. The package included several advantages, most notably a wide variety of customisable office spaces, as well as the possibility of receiving a maximum of six resident visas in the UAE, complete ownership for foreigners, tax exemptions, and easy and fast procedures.

Rakez launched several initiatives to support the business community, including an incentive package worth AED50 million ($13.61 million) to ease the financial burdens of investors resulting from the pandemic and its effects, to support its clients and ensure the continuity of their businesses. This incentive package, which has supported over 9,000 companies from June to December 2020, includes significant discounts on business licence renewal fees, total exemptions and other facilities.

Rakez won big at this year’s fDi Global Free Zone of the Year Awards, taking home six awards after competing with 61 free zones from all over the world. The economic zone has also bagged bespoke awards for Covid- 19 Support, honouring its efforts in helping ease the impact of the pandemic to its business community by initiating its client support boosters; and diversity initiatives, applauding its number of initiatives to help diversify Ras Al Khaimah’s economy.

Within the span of June 2019 to June 2020, Rakez has launched a series of pioneering products to keep innovating the support it provides to its investors, such as: the Rakez BusinessWomen Package, first-of-its-kind product in the UAE designed to support women entrepreneurs; and Make, Manage, Move Your Products, the most cost-effective industrial offering in the UAE catering to manufacturers, traders and logistics providers, the authority said.

Rakez continued to increase Ras Al Khaimah’s international appeal with the introduction of its Global Product, an innovative midshore free zone set-up that allows investors to redomicile or incorporate a new company through one of Rakez’s authorised Corporate Service Providers (CSPs).

According to Jallad, consolidation of the two leading free zones in Ras Al Kaimah has been one of the greatest achievements of Rakez. 

“Rakez brought together two of the fastest-growing investment hubs in the UAE a few years ago, that have been successful in the industry for over 20 years,” he said.

Since the consolidation, the combined authority has undergone substantial service, process, technological, infrastructural and workforce improvements.

“From a destination for entrepreneurs and industrial companies we have become a powerhouse of more than 15,000 businesses including SMEs and 770 global leading manufacturers that call Rakez home,” he said.



Success stories

Rakez: spread across various sectors

Rakez: spread across various sectors

• Spatial Composites Solutions, a global leader in the manufacture of aviation training equipment. It relocated to 12,775 sq m land, 73 per cent larger than its previous location, and is set to increase its production capacity by more than 50 per cent.

The company serves global customer base, including blue-chip airlines such as Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Qantas and British Airways.

• Peikko Group Corporation, a leading global supplier of concrete connections and composite structures. It has subsidiaries in 30 countries in Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and North America, with manufacturing operations in 9 countries. The company acquired an additional 11,500 sq m facility, which is in close proximity to Peikko’s existing 2,800 sq m premises.

• Streit Group, one of the world’s leading, privately owned armored vehicles manufacturer with 12 state-of-the-art production facilities and 25 offices worldwide.

• Franke, a world leading provider of products and solutions for washrooms, fast-food restaurant equipment and coffee preparation. Franke operates in 38 countries with 68 companies and revenues of around $ 2.1 billion.

• Ashok Leyland, the $3.3 billion company and the fourth largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world with a footprint that spreads across the globe with 9 plants; including one each in the UK and Ras Al Khaimah.