Barcelona-Spain: 24 November, 2013

Dr Mohammed Al Zarooni, Vice-President and Chief Executive Officer of the Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority and Director General of the Dubai Free Zone Authority, highlighted the experience of free zones in Dubai, their contribution to the UAE economy, and strategies for future growth in his keynote speech at the seventh Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders in Barcelona, ​​Spain.

Leveraging his experience in the management of free zones, Dr Zarooni elaborated on the success achieved by the free zones in Dubai within ​​just 30 years of their inception. He also highlighted Dubai's position as an economic hub that is quickly becoming the leading commercial centre of the Middle East.

Dr Zarooni was among the keynote speakers at the high-level event that was hosted by ​​the city of Casa de Mary from 20 - 22 November and brought together representatives from free zones in the Mediterranean countries.

During his speech, Dr Zarooni said: "Through the last few decades, free zones have played a prominent role in the global economic growth at all levels, whether by attracting foreign direct investors, promoting international trade or creating jobs. More importantly, free zones significantly improve the economy through their support to the national GDP.

"The strategic decision to establish free zones in Dubai was taken to further enhance the Dubai government vision to drive trade and foreign investment. Today, Dubai has 22 free zones, two of which are public and the rest specialized in finance, technology, IT, media, health services and other areas. The development of these clusters has increased the activity of ports where the free zones contributed 75 per cent to Dubai's total exports and 25 per cent to Dubai's GDP in 2012. The free zones also attracted some 19,000 companies that opened 226,000 job opportunities."

Backed by its modern infrastructure, latest technologies, high speed procedures and strategic accessibility through air and sea ports, Dr Zarooni pointed out that Dubai is well poised to emerge as a global investment destination and trade hub.

Dr Zarooni additionally reiterated the interest articulated by several countries to adopt the Dubai free zone model. "Today's free zones oversee 25 per cent of world exports that provide jobs to more than 60 million people constituting about three per cent of the workforce worldwide and nearly one per cent of the global population. It is no surprise that the number of free zones worldwide has risen from 665 in 1975 to more than 3,500 zones in 2013."

In his keynote speech, Dr Zarooni stressed on the importance of introducing legislation that allows for cooperation between free zones of all countries in the world to strengthen their role in boosting exports, drawing foreign direct investments, and contributing to the national GDP.

The Seventh Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders was held to share trends and international trade practices that impact free zones. The conference developed concrete tools to analyze the growth factors of free zones and promote sustainable economic growth in countries seeking to create free zones.

-Ends-

About Dubai Silicon Oasis:
Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA), a 100% owned entity by the Government of Dubai is a free zone, strategically placed on Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed road. DSOA's urban master-planned community spans 7.2 square kilometers of state of the art office towers, R&D and industrial zones, educational institutions, luxury apartments, villas, hotels, healthcare and a full range of lifestyle facilities which translate into a dynamic commercial and social environment. Businesses can flourish under the unrivalled package of incentives, including 100% ownership, and high end IT infrastructure that allows companies to begin operating immediately.

For more information, please visit: www.dso.ae |Follow DSO on Twitter: @dsoftz.

For further information, please contact:
Mazen El Dirany
Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority
Senior Associate Manager - Corporate Communications
T +971 4 5015102 | F +971 4 5015350 | M +971 50 2266956
Email: meldirany@dso.ae | www.dsoa.ae/

APCO Worldwide
Mathilda Saad
Tel:  +9714 361 3879 (Direct)
M: +97155 699 9890
Fax:  +9714 388 8001
Email:  msaad@apcoworldwide.com

Melanie Antao Fernandes
(T) +971 4 3688001
(M) +971 506566876
Email: mfernandes@apcoworldwide.com

© Press Release 2013