Tecom Investments has ploughed Dh11b into Knowledge Free Zones

Dubai: Tecom Investments, Dubai government's prime vehicle to spearhead the ICT sector, has pumped in Dh11 billion ($3 billion) so far in setting up seven knowledge free zones, a top official said.

"We have created a hub for knowledge-based economy and through our facilities we have created the right environment and the right opportunities for our people," Abdul Latif Al Mulla, chief executive of Tecom Investments told Gulf News yesterday.

Tecom, which eight years ago launched the emirate's knowledge clusters, now manages Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City, Knowledge Village, DuBiotech, International Media Production Zone and Dubai Outsourcing Zone. It has so far attracted 2,400 companies who together employ 30,000 professionals.

According to Madar Research, the ICT sector represents about 4 per cent of the UAE's GDP. Despite Dubai's skyrocketing success in attracting ICT and media companies into these free zones, analysts feel feel that the country has a long way to go to become a knowledge economy.

For one, manufacturing ICT products and components, research and development are the two key links missing in the overall development plan.

The Tecom cluster was launched in the late 1990s as part of the government's overall vision to transform the largely trading community into a knowledge society.

The economy largely remains a consumer of electronics and gadgets. Al Mulla feels, the time has come for Dubai to become a ICT and electronics products manufacturing hub.

"In a globalised environment, you do not need everything in one place. People manage things through outsourcing," Al Mulla, a former Microsoft executive, said.

"We need to know what is doable and feasible for us. Right now we are focussing a lot on developing the human resources, team leaders through streamlining the IT education in Dubai."

However, like many other economic sectors, growth in the UAE's ICT sector is also grossly imbalanced and tilted towards Dubai.

Right now, the federal government is establishing information cells across various departments and at emirate level, to streamline the flow of information and statistics to unify the flow of statistics, when Dubai has already successfully launched eGovernment project.