By IANS
Bangalore : The Hamriyah Free Zone (HFZ) authority at Sharjah in the UAE has invited Indian investors and entrepreneurs to set up business operations in the zone for exporting their products and services to global markets.
As one of the three leading free zones in the port city, the HFZ has emerged as a preferred investment destination for about 2,000 firms from 110 countries over the last decade.
“During the last six-seven years, about 500 Indian firms in diverse verticals have discovered the HFZ as an ideal place to expand their overseas operations. As a new generation free zone, the HFZ is a tax haven, with world class infrastructure, connectivity and access to markets in the UAE and the world over,” HFZ authority director-general Rashid Al-Leem said at a trade seminar here late Monday.
In spite of competition from the other two free zones – Khalid and Jabel Ali – HFZ has been able to attract $1.2 billion from about 1,900 global investors, including 400 from the sub-continent. Of the total licences issued so far, 65 percent account for industrial, 21 percent commercial and 14 percent for services.
“With increasing globalisation, investors and enterprises are looking beyond their local markets to survive competition and sustain growth. Though the process of globalisation has positives and negatives, entrepreneurs have to go where the market is, where the capital is cheaper and where skills are cost-effective,” Leem noted.
Spread over 22 million square metres, the HFZ has warehousing, distribution and networking facilities, with a dedicated berth, a deep water port, an inner harbour for ship building and dry docks for anchoring ships sailing through the Gulf of Oman.
“Besides world class facilities, we offer prospective investors/entrepreneurs tax-free environment, company ownership, exemption from all commercial levies and repatriations of capital and profits,” Leem said at a presentation on the HFZ to the members of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FKCCI).
In addition, the HFZ provides land lease for 25 years, inexpensive energy, a business centre with conferencing and Internet facilities, onsite accommodation for investor’s personnel and flexible labour laws for recruitment.
According to HFZA marketing assistant head Abdulla Ahmed Al Badri, about 40,000 people are employed in the zone and about 10,000 people live within its vast territory. With a cumulative annual growth of 40 percent, the HFZ is a gateway for enterprises to market their products and services in the Gulf region.
“Investors and entrepreneurs from India can leverage on the presence of about 10,000 Indian firms in the UAE by setting shop in HFZ and enter the global market, taking advantage of the location, time zone and low-cost operations,” Al Badri pointed out.
Exhorting the chamber members to explore the business opportunities in Hamriyah, FKCCI president S.S. Patil said it was “an ideal warehousing, distribution and industrial hub in the UAE for Indian firms”.