Dubai: Dubai Biotechnology and Research Park (DuBiotech), the world's first free-zone area dedicated to the life sciences industry, expects its warehousing facilities to be ready in June, said Marwan Abdul Aziz, Director of DuBiotech Park, on the sidelines of a press conference held at DuBiotech's lab building.

The Dh1.2 billion investment project which was launched in February 2005 includes the infrastructure as well as the construction of three buildings: the BIO Headquarters Towers, the Nucleotide Lab and Complex and the warehousing facilities.

The headquarters towers are expected to be completed next year.

Abdul Aziz said the DuBiotech investment is long-term.

"It's a 20-year kind of return which primarily comes from new business partners," he said.

DuBiotech acts as a facility provider for companies that are in the life sciences industry and which want to enter the Middle East market.

Target market

We target the companies that are growing and doing well in their home countries and we try to get them to enter the Middle East market, Abdul Aziz said.

"We build a case for them and we tell them you're missing out on this opportunity if you don't come. We tell them this is one of the few buildings in the whole region that are made with these facilities," he said. "We're like the landlord and they're the tenants," Abdul Aziz said.

Sixty-five companies are currently part of DuBiotech and Abdul Aziz hopes there will be 500 in the next ten years.

While there are fixed annual licensing fees paid by the companies, the cost of the facilities depends on space and location, Abdul Aziz said.

Firmenich joins fold

One of the latest additions to DuBiotech is Firmenich, a Swiss family-owned perfume and flavour business.

"We've looked at different countries and we found that Dubai is probably the best place to have an office," said Louis Lecoeur, General Manager of Firmenich in Dubai. "One of the reasons we came here is for the 100 per cent ownership," he said. "It's a private, family company, so it made sense to keep the independence the company has." Lecoeur said the company is very positive about the Middle East market. "A Saudi woman or an Emirati woman uses perfume ten times more than a French woman," he said.