Dafza eyes attracting more Indian investors

Dubai: The Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (Dafza) is eyeing more investments from India as the Authority aims to capitalise on strong economic growth in the South Asian country.

At an Indian Business event on Sunday, Dafza said it was aiming to attract Indian companies in sectors that include pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, renewable energy, and information technology, among others.

Nasser Al Madani, assistant director general at Dafza, said the Authority’s plans to attract these sectors are in line with the Dubai government’s plans to build smart cities and an economy driven by innovation sectors.

“Dubai is heading towards being more of a smart economy, and that means you are focusing more on technology, clean energy, and this is where we want the Indian investments to come into Dafza,” he told Gulf News.

The Authority’s goals to attract more investments from India come amid a growing focus on the country whose economy, one of the fastest growing in the world, is growing at an annual rate of over 7 per cent.

High-tech

This is in comparison to a slowdown in economic growth seen across much of the rest of the world including in oil-producing countries and in developed markets such as Europe.

“We’re focusing more on the Indian market. We have been traditionally focusing on Europe, and on Japan. We’ve been open to India for a long time, but we’re starting to focus more on the Indian market. The Indian economy is no more traditional FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods), manufacturing, and real estate; it is more into high-tech, and the high-end of the supply chain … That’s where we find opportunity,” Al Madani said.

Dafza’s focus on boosting investment ties with India also follow a historic visit in August 2015 by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the UAE, during which both sides agreed to create a $75 billion fund to invest in Indian infrastructure. The two countries also set a target to increase trade by 60 per cent in five years.

New plot of land

During the Dafza event on Sunday, the Authority also said it is currently working on expanding through the acquisition of a new land plot near to Dubai International Airport. Dafza said it could not disclose more details as negotiations are still going on, but that an announcement of the new land will be made before the end of this year.

Al Madani signalled that the Authority is investing its own money into the new land rather than relying on the government’s capital.

“The Dafza Industrial Park is probably the first time any freezone [authority] pays for the land to build a freezone. We have agreed on a joint venture with the owner of the land … In the same context, Dafza will be expanding further. So far, the freezones have been getting free land from the government — that’s not the case anymore,” Al Madani said.