Member Article

Ajman Free Zone Authority and Birmingham Airport Talk Trade in the UAE

Birmingham’s entrepreneurs with overseas vision met with senior representatives from the Ajman Free Zone Authority, in the United Arab Emirates, and Birmingham Airport’s Paul, to discuss the business opportunities across the Middle East.

Business elite from Ajman Free Zone Authority, Nader Eldesouky, deputy general manager, Rishi Somaiya, sales and marketing director, and Ali Fahmi, head of customer service met with city professionals to discuss Free Zones and the advantages to working across Ajman and the UAE. Paul Kehoe, Birmingham Airport’s chief executive, also addressed guests at the event, at The Debating Chamber, discussing the ways Birmingham Airport can support businesses wanting to trade across the Middle East.

Nader Eldesouky, said: “I thoroughly enjoyed meeting with Birmingham’s businesses to discuss the lucrative investment opportunities in the UAE and how this can benefit companies across the city, promoting trade and industry between our two countries.”

Paul Kehoe said: “With already good connections and with more and more capacity to the UAE from Birmingham Airport, there has never been a better time for city businesses to look to expand their companies into Ajman and the Middle East.

“It was great to meet with professionals today to discuss how Birmingham Airport can support them on an international level.”

Eldesouky continued: “Ajman Free Zone is deemed as one of the fastest growing free zones in the region and it will continue to grow over the years because time and energy is invested into the customer and the services offered to them.”

Rishi Somaiya, Director of Sales, added: “Ajman Free Zone Authority is the first to offer flexible payment facilities to its clients in up to twelve easy and convenient instalments. This payment facility will act as a springboard for entrepreneurs who find entry cost to business prohibitive and result in development.”

Elaborating on the Emirate’s many other attractions, Mr Somaiya explained that “inexpensive energy, an extremely economic wage structure, total exemption from all import and export duties and exceptionally low handling charges, gives AFZA a collective competitive edge.”

In addition, the Free Zone offers various licensing options ranging from commercial to trading licenses, service to industrial licenses and provision of a competitive warehousing facility, called Smart Warehouse. Smart Warehouse allows investors to lease out space starting from as little as 100 sqm and as the facility is scalable, multiple units can be taken up to suit the clients’ requirements.

Most recently, the Ajman Free Zone Authority has also launched a new licence category for e-commerce enterprises, in addition to other existing licenses. By offering this new category of licence, Ajman Free Zone Authority is moving with the times, with e-commerce transactions surging in the UAE.

Situated at the foot of the Arabian Gulf, the Ajman Free Zone is widely regarded as the ideal location for the supply of goods and services for the domestic and regional markets, allowing investors to reap the benefits. Other lucrative advantages to investing in Ajman Free Zone include inexpensive energy, an extremely economic wage structure, total exemption from all import and export duties and exceptionally low handling charges.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anthony Tattum .