Umm Al Quwain authorities have broken ground on new office premises and warehouses at the northern emirate's free zone.

The expansion project will include setting up of a new sustainable industrial smart city featuring logistics, outsourcing and alternative power-related industries with focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The free zone plan is also aimed at targeting fintech startups and research and development (R&D) centres, said senior officials at the groundbreaking cermony held recently.

The Free Trade Zone is expanding its warehouse and office space to keep up with rapidly rising demand from new clients. The facilities were announced to be complete by March 2020, they added.

Speaking at the function, Sheikh Khalid Bin Rashid Al Mu’alla, Chairman of UAQ FTZ, said: "We are pleased to kick-start the ambitious expansion project to facilitate and boost the growth of the investors who have been showing enormous trust and confidence in the free zone since its inception."

Spread over a 2 million sq m area, the new free zone is poised to become a strategic economic hub and is conveniently located near the highly accessible state highway, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed road, connecting UAQ with the emirates of Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Proximity to two international airports as well as multiple seaports, make it logistically ideal, it stated.

UAQ FTZ strategy is to attract employers who would find it more feasible to set up their back-end operations in Umm Al Quwain, rather than in much more expensive cities, by offering facilities at affordable rates.

Few activities such as back offices, R&D centers, data management and processing, business process outsourcing (BPO) and legal outsourcing (LPO) which will get several advantages if established in Umm Al Quwain Free Trade Zone.

"We are building a smart city where its residents will be able to ‘walk to work’. The city will function as an independent business and industrial hub, with amenities for families and employees such as schools, hospitals, hotels, shopping malls and even an Art & Exhibition Centre," he noted.

"As the free zone of the future, our motto will be “sustainable development, technological innovation and prosperity," said Sheikh Khalid Bin Rashid Al Mu’alla.

UAQ FTZ has been home to companies across various industries, and its investment portfolio manufacturing, IT, FMCG’s, and specialized consultancies, he added.-TradeArabia News Service

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