02/10/2014 01:20 AST
Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), the premier Free Zone in the Middle East, whose non-oil trade with Germany totaled more than $1.9 billion last year, evoked renewed interest among businesses in Germany seeking to leverage Dubai’s global connectivity and trade hub status to boost their exports and product offering.
A Jafza team comprising Tariq Bin Ghalaita, the Vice President of Sales and Abdulaziz Redha the Assistant Manager Sales, of the Europe Region and Mania Merrikhi, Project Manager, Marketing addressed seminars in Frankfurt and Hamburg to highlight the advantage of using Jafza as a base of operations for the Middle East and North Africa, as well as a gateway to the world markets, on the sidelines of Automechanika Frankfurt.
With non-oil trade at around $ 1.9 billion during 2013, Germany is Jafza’s number one trade partner in Europe. Over the past few years, there has been a steady increase in the number of companies that use Jafza as their base of operations in the Middle East.
A rich line-up of speakers, including the former First Mayor of Hamburg Ole von Beust, and former Senator Reinhard Stuth gave the participants insight into Dubai’s business climate, the opportunities, and the benefits to German companies setting up there. Participants including influential business leaders in both the cities learnt about the facilities and services Jafza has to offer.
Participants at the seminars showed tremendous interest in Dubai’s business environment, and sales team met with a number of multinational companies interested in locating their Middle East base of operations in Jafza. The unmatched logistics infrastructure, and the facilities and services available to Jafza customers are the key reasons these companies are looking to set up in Dubai.
Among the features highlighted was Dubai’s unprecedented sea-land-air link, which allows the free movement of goods between Jebel Ali Free Zone, Jebel Ali Port, one of the busiest ports in the world, and Al Maktoum International Airport, which is designed to handle 12 million tonnes of freight, within a single customs bond.
The Jafza Roadshow saw the active support of Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing in Frankfurt, and was successful in connecting with the German market, where there is increasing business focus on life sciences, healthcare, renewable energy, and fashion in addition to the traditional automotive, trade and logistics sectors. UAE and Dubai play a key role in the German market, pushing Dubai and Jafza’s brand recognition to new highs.
Currently, 250 companies of German origin have their Middle East base of operations in Jafza, including industry leaders, such as Bayer, Hellman, Kuhne + Nagel, Karcher, DHL, Daimler and Audi among others spanning 15 industry sectors, including Equipment and Machinery, Building Materials, Electronic and Electrical, Perfumes, Medicine and Beauty, Industrial Chemicals, Structural Steel Manufacturing, Motor vehicles and Motorcycles.
Jafza concluded a 5-day Roadshow recently in China with great success, with many firms keen to learn about Dubai’s key position as a gateway to the Middle East, and Jafza’s role in expanding the global reach of companies based there.
The delegation was accorded a VIP welcome from the Shandong government, where the Vice Governor of Shandong, His Excellency Xia Geng held talks with His Excellency Abdulla Al Saleh, Undersecretary, UAE Ministry of Economy, and Ibrahim Mohamed Aljanahi, Deputy CEO Jafza and Chief Commercial Officer Economic Zones World. The Shandong side also included a number of high-level government officials.
Jafza closely coordinated with Falcon & Associates who provided valuable support for the Roadshow by organising the seminar in Shandong, as well as meetings with high-level government entities. Falcon’s efforts also helped strengthen the UAE entourage with high-level delegates.
The Gulf Today
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