Ajman Free Zone Focus on New Economy, Global Expansion & Diversity Key for Growth in 2017
by Prashant Kapadia/NHN
On boarding e-commerce and services entrepreneurs across global landscape led to robust investments
AJMAN, United Arab Emirates, December 26, 2017— Ajman Free Zone (AFZ) said that a persistent focus in attracting new economy entrepreneurs spanning e-commerce and services across a global landscape resulted in robust inflow of investments in to the free zone in 2017, significantly supporting its year-0n-year growth strategy. A statement by AFZ after an internal review of its business in 2017 said that it kept its growth pace in attracting investments and one of the most significant achievements in 2017 was the geographical diversity of investments into the free zone. “Over and above the growth in absolute numbers, 2017 was a milestone year for two major reasons – one is a major diversification of investments as we tapped new source markets and second was our focus on the new economy, particularly across digital entrepreneurships and services industries. What we did was to align our vision with the growing Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) segment world over positioning AFZ as an ideal vantage point for these businesses looking towards the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Indian Sub-Continent and Africa,” said Mr. Faisal Al Nuaimi, Executive Director, Sales & Marketing, Ajman Free Zone.
“While we continue to maintain healthy investment continuity with our traditional source markets, our foray into new markets during 2017 helped us diversify our business outlook,” Mr. Faisal said.
AFZ is also currently working on opening marketing hubs in Central and East Asian countries as well as Europe. In the second half of the year, AFZ did a roadshow in Italy to showcase its investment propositions to European investors.
“Our keenness to tap investments from new markets was also complemented by new services. Coupled with this, we received continued patronage from our investors to our pioneering strategy based on offering flexible installment based investment packages ideal for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), he said..
AFZ also started corporate re-domiciliation services targeted at global offshore companies this year. “We have robust inquiries to this service we launched recently which we consider as an endorsement of the UAE as a business-friendly investment destination,” Mr. Faisal added.
Stating that one of the cornerstones of 2017 success was also a focused approach to woo SME’s from across the world, Mr. Rishi Somaiya, Sales Director, AFZ, said: “We were able to escalate our SME focus to many global markets with the help of our local offices present in many markets. The fact that AFZ offers a low-investment, flexible investment option was a major catalyst in fueling interest among global SMEs to consider moving to the free zone.”
About Ajman Free Zone: Ajman Free Zone (AFZ) was established in 1988, leading to massive industrial development in Ajman by attracting a great number of companies to benefit from the investment privileges, thereby strengthening industry and economy in the UAE. AFZ provides competitive privileges and facilities allowing companies to get a considerable return on their investment. AFZ continues to develop its infrastructure, spending millions of Dirhams along its free zone area of more than one million square meters. The strategic location advantages of AFZ include reach to international airports within 25 minutes. AFZ is located opposite Ajman Port. The free zone offers 100% ownership, easy transfer of capital and profits, exemption from personal income tax, exemption from import and export duties, competitive prices on facility usage and competitive prices for power/electricity. The advantage also includes competitive prices on leasing, easy access to low cost labour and well developed infrastructure. It also offers one-stop counter service for effecting transactions and fast and easy procedures and in most cases issues the license within 24 hours.
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