Free Zones - The Business Year

By bringing together like-minded companies and talent, free zones are able to capitalize on synergies and economies of scale.

Ammar al MalIk

Director, Dubai Internet City (DIC)

We have been committed to developing specialized, smart, and integrated cities. Our business ecosystem is designed to support ICT startups, SMEs, and large businesses in their growth, many of which have chosen DIC as the location for their regional headquarters. In line with the Dubai Strategy for Innovation, which seeks to encourage and promote innovation and creativity, DIC is committed to inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators. Over 60% of our partners are SMEs, which benefit enormously from our formal and informal networking and knowledge exchanges, including complementary seminars and workshops around a number of SME focused topics. Many of these sessions are co-hosted by IBM, Facebook, Microsoft, SAP and other partners, creating an environment for SME’s to learn directly from market leaders. In regard to organizational support, through DIC’s Business Centre, businesses of all sizes can set up and accesses a rich and diverse ecosystem of knowledge workers, nimble service providers, and expertise from all over the world. Additional benefits include a simplified incorporation process facilitated by axs, the smart gateway for government and corporate services provided by TECOM Group to its business communities.

Khalifa Al Zaffin

Executive Chairman, Dubai Aviation City Corporation & Dubai South

Our role is to be a platform and catalyst for business, so we endeavor to do as much as we can for our clients. For example, for the aviation sector we invested in a VIP terminal for all of the fixed-base operators because it is quite a big undertaking for them to build one independently. Now they have a common terminal to ease operations and add value to their operations. These entities now have their own maintenance, repair, and operations facilities as well as warehousing, paint shops, and more. This has helped generate a downstream industry in this particular sector. One of our current focuses is to look at the human side of our operations beyond our administrative role. In our residential district we focus on creating happy cities for people to live and work in this area. We have, in effect, become a developer, creating the infrastructure to ensure a high quality of life. Having a fully developed infrastructure allows us to moderate the cost of rents. The next step will be to bring in schools and hospitals, cost effectively, because we want to be competitive in terms of costs.

Majed Al Suwaidi

Managing Director, Majed Al Suwaidi

In line with TECOM Group’s AED4.5-billion Innovation Strategy to accelerate new start-up development and foster entrepreneurship in the UAE, we are working on making innovation the fabric of the media industry through the in5 Innovation Centre for media and the YouTube Space in Dubai Studio City. In addition to several innovative initiatives that will be introduced throughout the year to continuously empower our young talent, in5 will strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the UAE media industry by supporting freelancers and entrepreneurs in acquiring the right skills through mentorship and providing them with the tools and right facilities. Furthermore, Dubai Studio City’s recent partnership with YouTube to open the first YouTube Space in the MENA region will foster the region’s most talented content creators and provide them with free access to high end audio, visual and editing equipment, in addition to training programs, workshops, and courses. Therefore, we are focusing on enabling talents to utilize innovation in generating content in line with consumer behavior and has changed dramatically due to the digital revolution.