Earlier this year, Dubai’s Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammad launched 26 projects by 24 government entities of Dubai as part of “Dubai 10X”, aimed to make Dubai the hub of innovation. Under this initiative, DAFZA (Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority) has now announced its plans to start two of these projects, Dubai Blink and Free Zone Exchange (FZExchange). Blink is the world’s first B2B smart commerce platform while FZExchange is the world’s first stock exchange for trading shares of free zone businesses.
DG DAFZA, Dr. Mohammad Al Zarooni, was confident that both these projects (Blink and FZExchange) will open new opportunities for businesses inside the free zone and it will enable them to grow not only on local level but also in entire region and across the globe. Foreign investors will not be required to return to their country of origin to tap capital in the region thanks to FZExchange. This project will also attract leading regional and international companies to establish their headquarters in DAFZA.
The DG added that worth of global B2B market is around $7.7 trillion while the growth rate of digital commerce in MENA (Middle East & North Africa) region is expected to reach 40% by 2020. Through these steps, they will be able to get significant share of this growth opportunity that will benefit DAFZA, Dubai and the whole of UAE.
Through FZExchnage, investors in different free zones can achieve lower cost and speedier procedures through a simplified regulatory environment that will ultimately provide them easy access to various financial and capital markets. Along with that, Dubai Blink will enable companies from different parts of the world to connect with each other as it will work as the world’s first blockchain and AI enabled digital free zone platform.
Al Zarooni also told that DAFZA is in a process to create strategic relationships with IBM and several other international and government organizations that will ensure the success of Dubai Blink project. The project will complete in 4 phases that will include registration of DAFZA companies, participation of companies in other free zones in Dubai, participation of companies in other UAE free zones and then the availability of Dubai Blink to free zone companies all over the world.
These latest steps by DAFZA are just a hint of progress that is underway in Dubai, especially in the free zones in Dubai. For further details and practical assistance in setting up your business in DAFZA and any other free zone in Dubai and other emirates of UAE, you can contact Riz & Mona Consultancy via our WhatsApp # 971-56-9971225 or email address info@rizmona.com.
Source: ArabianBusiness
