Jebel Ali Free Zone’s focus on healthcare cluster pays off in full

Dubai: The Jebel Ali Free Zone’s focus on moulding a healthcare hub within in the pre-Covid years continues to pay off.

In the last four years, the free zone’s healthcare cluster had a seven-fold increase in trade value in terms of exports. In 2021, these companies accounted for nearly half of Dubai’s total trade volume for pharmaceutical and healthcare products. The same year, pharmaceutical products and healthcare instruments worth Dh3.8 billion were imported, up 15 per cent from 2020.

The Top 10 import sources were France, Germany, the US, Switzerland, Italy, UK, Spain, India, China, and Japan. These countries contributed to 78 per cent of the overall imports of JAFZA-based companies.

During the peak of the Covid phase, these infrastructure and networks delivered their worth. As a case in point, in 2021, DP World partnered UNICEF to accelerate the distribution of vaccines using JAFZA facilities to ‘optimise critical supply access for countries most under pressure from the pandemic’.

As a one-stop-destination for the healthcare sector, JAFZA hosts 412 healthcare and pharmaceutical companies from 60 countries. The free zone also offers purpose-built facilities to bio-hazard waste management.

“JAFZA also provides an ecosystem that promotes easy business set-up,” the statement added.

With the help of Imperial Logistics, a DP World company, operates a medical solutions hub in the free zone, through which customers can distribute quality medical and pharmaceutical products to communities in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

The four features of JAFZA’s healthcare and pharmaceuticals hub are: