This sterling performance has enabled Jafza to play a central role in the flow of foreign investments into the country, which amounted to US$ 69 billion, according to figures announced by the UAE Ministry of Economy in June 2010.

Salma Hareb, CEO, Economic Zones World, said; “Jafza consistently strives to contribute to the national drive to attract foreign investments. This has been a focus for us over the past 25 years. We are proud and privileged to be a factor in the nation’s economic development in a measurable way. We remain committed to continually creating an ideal environment for investors to use as a gateway to the entire region, and beyond.”

Asian and European companies, that have been steadily increasing their profile in the free zone, include many from China, India and Russia, three of the four economic powerhouses that form the BRIC group (the fourth being Brazil).

Between 1999 and Q2 of 2010, the number of companies in Jafza grew exponentially - from 1,134 to 6,550, a growth of almost 600 per cent. The investment flow, which was growing at a steady pace, saw a steep rise in 2003 when the boom set in and continued until the start of the recession in 2008.

The growth did not stop even during the downturn, with the number of companies rising from 6,179 in 2008 to 6,413 in 2009 and 6,550 by Q2 of this year. In the first half of this year, Jafza has leased 572 new facilities (63 per cent more than 350 for the same period in 2009). 200 of these have been existing customers expanding, which is a positive indicator of the recovery of the economy.

In H1 2010, Jafza has received an impressive number of inbound projects. New arrivals so far have included Mitsubishi Corporation, Petrochina, JVC Professional, Proclad Stream-Flo, Schoeller-Bleckman and Isuzu Motors, among others.

Jafza is also witnessing a sharp rise in the number of manufacturing units. There has been a 50% growth in the number of manufacturing units between 2005 and 2009. Even between 2008 and 2009, when the regional economy was hard hit by global recession the number of new entrants in the industrial sector in Jafza saw a growth of 40 per cent.

Salma Hareb added; “There has been a qualitative improvement in the FDI that Jafza has attracted over the past two years, with proportionately more well-established manufacturers and service providers moving here in search of stable operational bases. Our value proposition was, and continues to be, integrated infrastructure, the best international practices and exceptional customer service.”

25 years from its inception in 1985, Jafza’s key strength remains an ideal set of logistics matrices which allow the fastest lead times for the movement of goods. Its competitiveness, measured as per World Bank parameters, including ‘Ease of Doing Business’; ‘Dealing with Licenses’; ‘Employing Workers’; and ‘Registering Property’ rank it No. 1 in the Middle East today.

Economic Zones World (EZW), the global developer and operator of economic zones, technology, logistics and industrial parks under the Dubai World Group, has been chosen as one of the twelve global corporate partners for this year’s Hult Innovation Olympics Program set to kick off around the globe at Hult International Business School’s campuses in Boston, London and Dubai.

Competing MBA-candidate teams will be working with senior members of EZW to develop big, bold innovations for the company. Hult and the Center for Innovation, Excellence and Leadership (IXL Center) chose EZW based on its longstanding track record of innovative projects and initiatives around the world, particularly the development of Jafza (Jebel Ali Free Zone), one of the world’s largest and fastest growing free zones.

The Innovation Olympics Program is an opportunity for mid-career MBA students to develop real solutions to the pressing challenges of leading multi-national organizations. Companies are able to “crowdsource” new ideas and insights from diverse international teams with students from over 60 countries.

Hamad Al Hashmi, Managing Director, Dubai Institute of Technology (an EZW initiative) set the bar high for the Hult student teams and is looking forward to what the teams come up with to support growth at EZW: “Our goal at Jafza, EZW’s flagship business, is to sustain Dubai as a global hub for logistics and trade. Innovation is not constrained by technology or industry. Learning through others and engaging fresh young minds is an essential approach EZW appreciates. Therefore our expectation is high to see new and challenging innovation from our association with IXL.”

At each company, the MBA-candidate teams follow a unique approach developed by IXL Center to generate breakthrough innovations in a seven week period from Mid-June to August. They present their proposals and the business case to the leadership team of the Corporate Partner at the end of the project. Each team is assigned a mentor, often an experienced strategy consultant. All students participate in the project before receiving a business degree.

Tyler McNally, Professor of Innovation at Hult, says Economic Zones World is a world class organization that has had great success particularly though its flagship Jafza. It’s a great challenge for Hult students to find new ways to maintain that success. We designed the Hult Innovation Olympics for exactly these types of big, audacious challenges.”

Hult, which started life as the first corporate university in the United States, places a strong emphasis on delivering a practical business education. The majority of its faculty has spent years in industry as well as academia. This ensures that students are taught concrete skills that apply to real companies.

To get a first hand feel of Jafza and its business model, a 22 member MBA student team from Hult International Business School visited Jafza today. The delegation was received by senior officials at the free zone and was taken on an extensive familiarization tour of the Jafza facility and systems.

Professor McNally concludes, “This partnership enables organizations to tap into the collective intelligence of Hult’s incredibly international MBA student body to focus exclusively on a key growth issue. It also represents a fantastic opportunity for our business students to leverage the knowledge they have accumulated over the course of their MBA program. It reinforces what a Hult MBA is all about – international, practical business education.”
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Media contact:

Adeti Changulani ,
World View Communications,
Dubai World,
Email: adeti.changulani@wvc.ae
Mob: +971 50 429 5576

About EZW
Economic Zones World (EZW) is the global developer and operator of economic zones, technology, logistics and industrial parks under the Dubai World Group. The company aims to create a robust network of infrastructure platforms of such zones and parks across the world with an objective to support the dynamic expansion of its rapidly growing international customer base. EZW’s current portfolio includes Jafza, one of the world’s largest free zones; Gazeley, a global developer of highly efficient, carbon positive logistics and industrial spaces; TechnoPark, a research driven business and industrial park, and Dubai Auto Zone, a comprehensive market place for the Auto industry. www.ezw.com
Jafza (Jebel Ali Free Zone) is built over an area of 57 square kilometers. It ranks among the worlds largest and the fastest growing free zones. In its 25 years of operation, Jafza has posted more than 320 times its growth in the number of companies growing from 19 in 1985 to over 6500 in 2010.
Situated between Jebel Ali Port the world’s 6th largest seaport and the upcoming Al Maktoum International Airport, the world’s largest cargo airport, Jafza is the only free zone in the world to be located between the two major logistic enablers. With a six lane highway Jafza will facilitate the transportation of goods (custom bound) from sea to air in under 30 minutes. Jafza is well positioned to enable its partners the fastest possible access to a market of over 2 billion people in South and West Asia, the CIS and Africa. www.jafza.com
About Hult International Business School
Hult International Business School, formerly the Arthur D. Little School of Management, is a NEASC and AMBA accredited business school. Established in 1964, Hult offers a unique one year MBA program to a diverse student body from over 50 countries. Its flagship MBA program received top rankings from both the Financial Times and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The school has five campus locations: Boston, London, Dubai, San Francisco, and Shanghai. Hult is partner of EF Education First, the world’s largest private education organization. www.hult.edu
About IXL Center
IXL Center provides education, training and certification programs to help corporate executives and managers whose organizations require growth through innovation. IXL’s MBA-accredited courses cover the full range of innovation management concepts enabling organizations to systematically and comprehensively connect the dots and drive successful innovation across the extended enterprise or build specialized innovation skills in functional areas such as technology, design and operations. Courses and certification programs are delivered via global training locations, eLearning environments and custom curriculum programs at an organization’s location. For more information, visit us at www.ixl-center.com.

Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT) has officially opened its black masterbatch manufacturing facility in the Jebel Ali Free Zone. The plant has an initial production capacity of 25,000 metric tons per year with provision to expand to 75,000 metric tons in the future. Production is scheduled to commence in August 2010.

The state-of-the-art manufacturing facility includes the latest environmental and manufacturing technologies to ensure production of high-quality black masterbatches. Laboratories, administration offices, production and packaging are all located within the building.

The Dubai plant allows Cabot to better meet increasing demand for masterbatch in the Middle East, Europe and Asia Pacific regions. In recent years the Middle East has become a major producer of polyolefins and downstream compounds, currently producing approximately one-fifth of the world’s polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

Cabot Vice President and General Manager for the Performance Segment, Sean Keohane, said, “Within the Middle East there is already a strong demand for polyethylene and polypropylene compounds for use in building infrastructure for water supply, electricity, and telecommunications projects. These are key applications for black masterbatch. This new site offers significant quality and service advantages to Middle East producers who are global exporters of compounds.”

Senior Vice President of Global Sales at Jafza, Adil Al Zarouni said: “Cabot Corporation has demonstrated excellence as a global leader in performance materials and we hope the new facility will help the company to continue the pursuit of its vision and effectively reach out to more businesses and markets across GCC, the Middle East and Asia. We are very pleased to welcome Cabot to the Jafza community. This new move not only reflects the confidence the company has in Dubai and Jafza but also proves that Jafza is still one of the most favoured investment destinations for international companies looking to base themselves in the region.”

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About Cabot Corporation- Established in 1882, Cabot Corporation is a global performance materials company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts USA. The Company operates 37 manufacturing plants in 19 countries and employs approximately 4000 people. With advanced technologies and leading market positions in carbon black, fumed silica, inkjet colorants, capacitor materials, aerogels and cesium formate drilling fluids, the products that Cabot manufactures enable and improve customers products across a wide range of applications and industries. Among its businesses, Cabot is a leading global manufacturer of black masterbatches and conductive compounds and operates three plants in Europe (Belgium and Italy), one in Asia (Hong Kong) and one in the Middle East (Dubai). All current masterbatch manufacturing facilities are ISO 9001:2008 accredited.

Contacts: Susannah Robinson Director, Investor Relations
617-342-6129
Susannah_Robinson@cabot-corp.com

Gérard Romainville
gerard_romainville@cabot-corp.com
+32 16 39 24 00

Dubai Media Contact: Adeti Changulani
World View Communications
adeti.changulani@wvc.ae
+971 50 5548970

Jafza, the flagship free zone under Economic Zones World has launched a top-of-the-line interactive electronic map on its website, designed to provide customers and visitors alike with a new and convenient navigation experience.

The Jafza website, with an average of 8000 visitors per week is used extensively by the free zone’s 6500 companies and with this service will become the primary navigation tool for visitors to the free zone. The electronic map will offer a convenient search facility of the major landmarks and businesses in the free zone in addition to a handy directory of places of interest including easy-to-follow icons and upcoming mega projects among a host of important facilities. Areas of interest can be expanded for greater details and printed for hard-copy use.

Commenting on Jafza’s commitment to its clients, Ibrahim Mohammed Al Janahi, Chief Commercial Officer of Jafza said: “The new service provides a virtual tour of the Jebel Ali free Zone reflecting our commitment to excellence and innovation in everything we do. All of our initiatives are designed to provide customers and stakeholders with the best of services at a higher level of efficiency. We are confident the electronic map will greatly benefit the Jafza community, which currently comprises of 139,000 people. Apart from making navigation of the free zone easier, the electronic map will enable Jafza’s business community to promote their businesses online effectively and connect with other businesses effortlessly.”

Businesses based in Jafza, can be easily located on the map and will be provided with unique links, to show their office locations. The map will display a company’s exact physical office location and highlight their corporate information - such as the company logo, website link, enquiry email link, contact numbers and a brief write up on their services.

Huge benefits can be drawn from these unique links provided to registered clients. As their location on the map along with their corporate information can now be easily and quickly circulated to partners & business associates, used in their websites, catalogues, brochures and other promo material.

Additionally, lists and street numbers are also being added to the detailed map. Companies can mark specific locations on the map as meeting points and send them to visitors via email with a note under a feature in the interactive map called ‘My location My meeting’.

The map has been exclusively designed for Jafza with the software provided by Belhane Mapping, a German Cartography company with over 700 maps in Europe to its credit. Jafza has partnered with Easy Map Advertising who will be responsible for marketing the advertising space on the map.

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Media contact:

Adeti Changulani ,
World View Communications,
Dubai World,
Email: adeti.changulani@wvc.ae
Mob: +971 50 429 5576

Economic Zones World (EZW) announced that Gazprom Neft Marine Bunkering Limited, a subsidiary of Russian gas giant, Gazprom Energy has established a base at Djibouti Free Zone (DFZ).

The move comes as part of the multinational energy major’s expansion strategy. Managed by Jafza, the flagship company of EZW, the Djibouti Free Zone is a gateway to East Africa and one of the single most important strategic logistics hubs to provide access to strategic markets in East and Central Africa and beyond. DFZ offers a unique Jafza-inspired business environment and located close to global marine terminal operator, DP World’s Djibouti and Doraleh terminals which attract leading international shipping lines including Maersk and MSC among others.

Gazprom through its local subsidiary Djibouti Bunkering Company FZCO plans to sell marine fuel to these shipping lines. The company has two storage tanks with a storage capacity of 9300 cubic meter and a barge in the marine oil terminal Doraleh. The company is awaiting quality control approval for its Floating Barge and expects to commence operations by June end.

Ali Dawood, Senior Vice President, EBU (Emerging Business Units), Economic Zones World and Chief Planning Officer, UAE Region said: “Djibouti Free Zone, like Jafza, our flagship operation in Dubai, is fully committed to support Gazprom’s growth plans on the African continent.. DFZ is a strategically located gateway linking free zone based companies to millions of customers in key markets in Africa and worldwide.”

Andrey Vasiliev, Director General, Gazprom Neft Marine Bunker Limited said: “Gazprom Neft intends to deliver first class bunkering service to the marine industry in the region which will further develop and strengthen our business relations with Djibouti and the continent.”

Gazprom is one of the world’s largest energy companies and owns a pipeline network of 155,000 kilometres, the largest in the world. The company has subsidiaries in many different industry sectors including geological exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing and marketing of hydrocarbons as well as generation and marketing of heat and electric power.

Djibouti Free Zone is currently home to some 100 leading regional and global companies including BMMI, SDV Bollore, and Seven Seas, among others. It has emerged as one of Africa’s leading trading and distribution hubs. The strategic location of the free zone allows companies located in DFZ to serve 380 million people in 19 countries in East and Central Africa.

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Media contact:

Adeti Changulani,
World View Communications,
Dubai World,
Email: adeti.changulani@wvc.ae
Mob: +971 50 429 5576

This week, a 20 member student delegation from Drew University in the US visited Jafza as part of its three-week visit to the UAE to study one of the fastest growing economies in the world and examine the different strategies used to promote its economic development.

The students have all completed a semester-long course on “Global Business in the United Arab Emirates,” taught by Dr. Nora Ann Colton, Professor of Economics and Business and Carlos Yordán, Associate Professor in Political Science at Drew University – both of whom accompanied the students on the visit.

The thrust of the course and its accompanying seminar is to examine the UAE economy - the role of oil, the importance of economic diversification, the growth of sovereign wealth funds, trade relationship between the state and the market, the booming tourism sector, the creation of free zones, the critical role of infrastructure, the importance of logistics, trends in employment, equity markets and banking and the challenge of globalisation among other strategic issues.

Senior officials from Economic Zones World, the parent organisation of Jafza, met the delegation and briefed them on the Free Zone’s various operations and projects. The delegates learnt about Jafza’s dynamic business model and how it has become the leading industrial, warehousing and distribution hub in the Middle East contributing to the economic development of the Dubai and the nation.

Dr. Nora Ann Colton, Professor of Economics and Business, Drew University, Madison, NJ, USA said: “It was a great opportunity to be able to bring our students from Drew University to Jafza to learn about the exciting developments taking place in this important international free zone. Our students, mostly economics and political science majors, are part of an academic program at Drew University that involves taking a course on a particular region or country in the world and then visiting for three weeks. Many of these students were fascinated to learn about the free zones in the UAE; consequently, many wrote their research papers on Jafza. After their visit to the UAE, they will return to the United States to edit and expand their papers based on their visit.”

She added: “ This was an excellent opportunity for us to have Jafza framed in the larger context of what we have come to regard in the West as the Dubai model. In general, I am thrilled to be able to bring university students to the UAE at this point in its history as I know that in the future it will not only impact the way they think about the UAE, but the Middle East as a whole.”

Edward Wang, a student who wrote his research paper on Jafza said:

“Jafza plays a very significant role in the future of Dubai’s economy. It sets a model of how countries can use ports to provide solid revenue streams and development for their national economy. The development of its logistics and ports make it even more attractive for international companies to take advantage of other free zones in Dubai.”

The students also visited Dubai Economic Council, the DIFC, Dubai Internet City, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, DTCM, NYU Abu Dhabi, The Petroleum Institute and ADNOC among other companies and institutions.

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Media contact:

Adeti Changulani ,
World View Communications,
Dubai World,
Email: adeti.changulani@wvc.ae
Mob: +971 50 429 5576

Economic Zones World (EZW) flagship free zone Jafza was presented with the ‘Logistics Hub of the Year’ award and EZW’s global commitment to CSR was recognised with the Corporate Social Responsibility Award at the recently held 4th Annual Supply Chain & Transport Awards 2010.

The awards ceremony held in Dubai, brought together hundreds of top executives from the Middle East transportation and logistics industries.

The SCATA 2010 ceremony included 16 categories in total, covering the logistics, sea freight and air cargo sectors. The winners were judged by a prestigious panel of industry experts, selected from within the Middle East logistics industry.

Pat McGillycuddy, Chief Operating Officer of Economic Zones World and Tariq Bin Ghalaita, VP Corporate Commercial and Customer Relations accepted the awards on behalf of the company.

Commenting on the awards, Pat McGillycuddy, Chief Operating Officer of Economic Zones World said: “These awards add to Economic Zones World’s crown of achievements and are especially meaningful to us as we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Jafza this year. We have always been clear that innovation and a strong focus on customers are the main drivers of our growth. Today Jafza is the most attractive investment base in the region and a leading contributor to the nation’s GDP. We are very thankful for the support we have received over the years and hope to continue our efforts and live up to the highest expectations of our customers while staying a responsible corporate citizen contributing to the communities in which we operate.”

The Jebel Ali Free Zone reached record customer levels of well over 6,400 clients at the end of last year. Jafza has seen uninterrupted year-on-year growth in the number of companies over the past 10 years along with corresponding increase in the number of their employees.

The year 2009 also saw Jafza coming up with a number of value-adding projects and customer-oriented support services, including the innovative Light Industrial Unit-15 (LIU-15), the South Zone Warehouses/Showrooms, the revamped Project Ahlan customer service facility and EZ Post, the exclusive free zone courier service. Furthermore, this year Jafza ISO accreditation for its quality management system has been upgraded to ISO 9001:2008.

Economic Zones World has built and delivered 1.3 million square meters of eco-efficient warehousing already including projects executed by EZW subsidiary Gazeley, global provider of sustainable logistics space.

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EZW, together with Imdaad, a Dubai World subsidiary providing facility management services, have produced dedicated recycling boxes for the campaign which will be placed in all the Jafza Office Buildings - Jafza 14, 15, 16, 18 and 19. Visitors and customers alike will be encouraged to use these facilities to the maximum. The Recycling Campaign will be promoted heavily by intensive distribution of campaign information to Jafza companies to ensure greater success of the initiative. The campaign is one of many green initiatives undertaken by EZW recently, some of which include the installation of solar LED lights in Jafza South, switching off AC after working hours, the use of condensation water for water fountains and irrigation at TechnoPark’s head office, dimming the lights in core areas, setting up of recycling boxes and planting greenery in different areas within the free zone.

Salma Hareb, CEO, Economic Zones World said: “Economic Zones World operates Jafza,  the largest Freezone in the region and houses thousands of companies. We have a social responsibility towards the community and environment we operate in and we want to do our best to adhere to sustainable practices in our operations. We have adopted many measures within our zones and other projects across the globe. Further, Economic Zones World subsidiary Gazeley is one of Europe’s leading developers and providers of sustainable logistics and industrial spaces.”

To date Gazeley has built over 60 million sq ft (5.6 million sq m) of quality warehouses and distribution parks across the globe. In 2009 Gazeley has won a multitude of Sustainability Awards including the ‘Best Sustainable Development’ at the LEAF Awards, Industrial Agents Society Awards, UK Commercial Property Awards and HANSE Global.

EZW aims to make a positive difference on the environment by developing and supporting sustainable projects in and outside the Free Zone, initiating environmental programs, participating in awareness drives and by forming strategic partnerships to further the cause.
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