HFZ - the cornerstone of UAE's industrial, economic development

AGENCIES
Posted on 2009-03-12
KOCHI - With a unique geographic and time zone advantage, Hamriyah Free Zone (HFZ) has leveraged its position and has become the cornerstone of the United Arab Emirates’ industrial and economic development, a top official of the Zone said on Wednesday.Speaking to reporters here, Mr Rashid AI Leem, director general, Hamriyah Free Zone, said today’s business world demands a new kind of business environment that is adaptive, scalable and cost-effective.
Located at Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, HPZ is a strategic gateway between three continents and emerging markets in Asia, Europe and Africa, he said.
About 3500 companies from about 115 nations have registered in the free zone and were operating, he said, adding there are about 740 Indian companies in the HFZ and out of that over 500 are in the SME sector.
Despite the global economic crisis, in last January about 101 new companies have registered at HFZ and in February two more companies have started operations from the zone, he said. Most of the new companies are from fabrication, marine and building construction sector, he said.
‘We are targetting 1200 companies to start operations from the zone this year. The total workforce at the zone including clerks, managers and ordinary workers will be about 35,000. The total investment in the zone will be over $two billion, he said.
Mr Leem said the crude oil price fall has not affected UAE drastically. He said some of the companies operating at the HFZ are facing problems, as the banking sector was not providing them with the financial support.
With the vision of creating affordable and world-class free zone, HFZ has formulated explicit policies and designed special programmes to strengthen the small and medium sized enterprise (SME) sector, an often overlooked sector, owing to their size and limited spending capacity, he said.
With nearly 90 per cent of the region and global economy constituted by SMEs, HFZ believes that this sector plays a vital role, he said.