By In an exclusive interview with ArabComment, Ibrahim Ahli, Director of Marketing at Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZ), explains why Dubai is the only place to set up operations in the region, how expansion plans look beyond the UAE, and why British companies are so valued.
ArabComment: How do you think that Dubai will perform during the global financial crisis, and how will your operations be affected?
Ahli: Actually our operations have not been affected at all by the financial crisis in the world because we still have companies establishing at the Dubai Airport Free Zone and asking for office spaces for the region. I’ll give you an example: we have now more companies from Japan, who would like to establish their offices in Dubai, and our location is an ideal location for them because they want to shift their operations of selling their products to the United States, and shifting it to other new markets, so Middle East, Russia, India are new markets for the Japanese companies.
ArabComment: Would you say that you’re offering a respite from the current financial crisis and that Dubai is a kind of a safe haven?
Ahli: Absolutely, yes.
ArabComment: You recently announced high growth rates for 2008. What would you say were the main reasons behind these increased profits, and what would be your expectations for next year?
Ahli: Because Dubai being the hub for almost everything in the Middle East and for example for aviation, shipping, tourism, a business venue and an exhibition hub. That creates demand, for everything; demand in opening offices; demand for visiting companies, expanding trade relations with neighbouring states.
Also, Dubai itself is a perfect location for doing business, you can always establish your company or your business in one place and then go to all of the region. For example in South East Asia you can either establish your office in Hong Kong or Singapore and that is where your operation goes into that region.
And the government is looking into the future…so we have perfect vision from the government making sure that the businesses are continuing and establish projects, developments in the local market that creates jobs, businesses and adds more trade between Dubai and others. Also because we import everything into Dubai from the six continents, different markets, and then we re-export, so it makes us a gateway to a 1.8 billion consumers if you fly five hours from Dubai.
ArabComment: You said that re-exports are a big part of Dubai’s trade. Dubai has come under a lot of pressure recently for its trade relations with Iran. Is Iran, for the companies involved in the airport trade zone, a big destination for re-exports?
Ahli: Actually Iran is a big potential business opportunity for many different markets and Dubai has always been the gateway of Iran’s trade; whether it is airport, through the container ship; we have these wooden dhows that take different products to Iran, its faster and its cheaper. So many companies that come from lets say Switzerland, Germany, France, Japan and China, if they want to trade and sell their products into the Iranian market then Dubai is their gateway.
There hasn’t been any affected trade between United Arab Emirates and Iran, and we are in the end very close neighbours. There is also Iran has banks. The Iranian banks are operating in Dubai so foreign companies that want to trade, sell their products into Iran, then the financial transaction will be through their banks in Dubai, or in the UAE, which makes it very safe for them and investors.
ArabComment: You mentioned that the UK has one of the biggest presences in Dubai Airport Free Zone, are you also targeting Europe and is the Euro zone an important market for you?
Ahli: We target different international markets but we focus on the main ones. Such as North America, Europe, Japan and Australia which are the main markets. However, we are also very selective of the companies we work with. Not just any company can come and operate here due to the limits of space.
So from these main markets we also focus on individual countries. So in Europe the UK is our number one focus and is very important for us for many different reasons. Mainly because British companies if they come they establish their business for the long term. We want a long term partnership. We currently have 140 British companies out of 1.400 companies in total then this is quite a big share from just one market.
Then our next focus is the German market, followed by the Swiss and French markets. But then the rest of the European market is not very important for us but we don’t deny having them.
ArabComment: Is the limited space available going to impact the greater vision for Dubai Airport Free Zone and does this result in your selective policy for companies aiming to set up in Dubai Airport Free Zone?
Ahli: When we say we are very selective it is because it is important to have niche companies in different sectors. This is due to the fact that people think as we are by the airport that we only support the aviation sector but this is not the case.
So as we expand we always get niche industries and companies based in our facilities so that is why we have selected companies and that goes through our limited space as we expand. Which is why we are always nearly fully booked when we finish a new expansion plot.
Next year we will start with another building that will add another 32,000 sq meters of office space and then from 2011 to 2012 we will have a completion of a much bigger project and that will add 130,000 sq meters of office spaces. Then after that we won’t have any more space.
We are thinking from now of expanding our airport free zone at the next airport in Dubai, which is called Dubai World Central. This is the future second airport that Dubai needs, like London has Heathrow and Gatwick, so Dubai will eventually need two main airports. So we will have a free zone over there as well. Also, we are thinking of managing free zones around the world. So we won’t stop our visionary to where we are just located. So if there is a requirement of managing an airport free zone in a certain city, why not. We would take it into consideration or in partnership.
ArabComment: Dubai is not alone among cities in the UAE and GCC in attracting international companies or building free trade zones as they all try to diversify their economies away from energy. Who would you consider to be your biggest rivals in the region, and is it possible to accommodate all these aspiring countries?
Ahli: Alright I can tell you the truth; we do not have any competitors because we are the only successful airport free zone in the region and we have vast experience in managing such a free zone. There is only neighbouring emirate, Sharjah that has an airport free zone and none in the rest of the region.
Other countries may have many companies but they are not great names from companies around the world. The reason that companies, like Rolls Royce and Johnson and Johnson, want to establish their facilities in our free zone is because of the connectivity. They can operate in Dubai for the whole of the region, doing sales and marketing, finding sale agents and distributors and so on.
For these companies to establish themselves in Dubai it is easy and they can get on any Emirates flight or one of the 120 international airlines and go to any of the cities in the region and do business meeting and come back. So this is the reason why we really do not have any competitors.
ArabComment: Would you say that this is the biggest contributing factor to the success of Dubai Airport Free Zones?
Ahli: Absolutely.
ArabComment: Any final comments?
Ahli: For us it is important to get more British companies, because between Dubai and the UK there has always been a special relationship. We will make sure that these companies will prosper over the coming years and will benefit by being in the Dubai Airport Free Zones. Our facilities are world class and have excellent living conditions.
By Julian Walker and Oliver Pearce
