Dubai Outsource Zone (DOZ) is seriously considering replicating the zone in countries such as Mo­rocco, Jordan and Egypt soon, ac­cording to a top official of the zone. Talking to The Business Weekly recently, Ismail Al Naqi, execu­tive director, Dubai Outsource Zone, said the management is currently in talks with the gov­ernment of Morocco to finalise a plan to set up a similar free zone in Morocco which has recently been witnessing good growth on all fronts, prompting several overseas companies to establish a presence there, especially in its financial services industry.

"We are keen to take this mod­el to other regional countries but for the time being, the GCC is not on our radar screen," Ismail said.

He told TBW that the zone has already invested about $500 million in creating infrastructure and constructing buildings.

Today the zone has three mil­lion square feet of land, but the second phase will soon be devel­oped on an adjacent land, ad­measuring 30 million square feet. "The second phase which will be developed in phases is likely to be ready by 2010. While $200 million has already been spent on devel­oping infrastructure in phase 1, another $300 million was spent on constructing buildings," Naqi explained.

25,000 people
He said by 2010, when the in­frastructure of the second phase is complete, DOZ will have invested more than Dh2 billion on infra­structure and buildings. Naqi expressed hope that DOZ which has more than 7,000 people and 100 companies operating from the zone will have 25,000 people working from the zone by 2010.

The unprecedented growth in the financial services sector, es­pecially banking, has offered a good platform for outsourcing in the region, and this has played a significant role in the spectacular growth of Dubai Outsource Zone's during this short period since it was set up about three years ago.

Outsourcing plays a vital role in all walks of business, espe­cially in a place like Dubai whose pace of growth is unheard of in the region. Whether be it call centre or IT implementation, out­sourcing helps companies focus on their core activities. "In fact, outsourcing can help institutions focus 70 per cent of their energy and time on their core activities and strategic objectives which otherwise would not be possible," Naqi added.

In the absence of a custodian for this industry, outsourcing has always remained scattered in Du­bai until DOZ was set up, accord­ing to Naqi. DOZ is in the process of bringing this service sector un­der an organized umbrella.

DOZ offerings are multiple, the most important being space solution followed by residential facilities, technological infra­structure, ancillary support etc. "Another important factor is that DOZ assures freedom from red-tapism and offers a one-stop solu­tion to all paper and other admin­istrative works," he added.

Already, more than 120 com­panies are registered with DOZ and the big names established within the zone include Du, Arab Bank, ABN AMRO, Mashreq, Ha­bib Bank Zurich, Barclays, Dubai First, and many other financial institutions.

While Mashreq is set to have about 2,000 people at its outsource centre at DOZ, ABN AMRO already has 1,000 people working on its back-office job cur­rently. Arab Bank and Mashreq run their global operations from DOZ whereas international banks such as Barclays and ABN AMRO use this platform to support local operations.

By CL Jose

© The Business Weekly 2008

 

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