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Jafza discusses UAE construction sector growth

DUBAI, October 6, 2016

Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), the UAE's flagship trade and logistics hub for the wider Middle East and Africa region, held a forum recently to discuss the growth of companies in the construction and steel sector based in the National Industries Park of the free zone.

The forum also provided an insight into the industry through a presentation titled ‘The future of the industry’ that offered a detailed information on the 3,872 projects worth $350 billion active in the emirate.

It was attended by industry leaders, key officials from partner entities and senior management from Jafza.

Talal Al Hashimi, the chief operating officer of Jafza, opened the forum emphasising the industry’s significance in driving the local economy with the government launching several ambitious construction projects that are expected to be completed over the next few years.

"Despite the global market facing stiff challenges, recent reports are extending an optimistic outlook for the growth in this sector, locally and regionally," remarked Al Hashimi, citing a Business Monitor International (BMI) report.

According to BMI, the construction sector in the UAE had reported a 6.6 per cent growth this year and was poised to hit Dh181 billion ($49.2 billion) by end of 2017, compared to Dh162 billion ($44 billion) this year, thus revealing a promising growth of six per cent over the next three years.

Al Hashimi asserted Jafza’s keenness in providing additional incentives to the sector, having allocated an area of 1.1 million sq m in Jafza South for companies in the construction and steel industry.

“Jafza supports the role of the construction and steel industry by facilitating incentives for investors as we acknowledge its vital role in the regional and global economy,” he added.

The presentation also highlighted the growth engines for the sector. While the first engine is the steady increase in Dubai’s population, the second is the rise in the number of tourists to the emirate (expected to touch 20 million by 2020) which requires steady expansion of infrastructure.

The third engine is the Expo 2020, which is projecting a GDP (gross domestic product) growth of two per cent between 2020 and 2021, while the fourth is the Dubai Strategic Plan 2021 and the associated projects.

Jafza officials also briefed customers on the various initiatives taken by the Free Zone during the current year, to offer various avenues to companies operating in Jafza to facilitate business operations.

The Dubai free zone invited companies to participate in The Big 5, the largest construction event in the Middle East, as part of the Jafza Pavilion to promote their companies at this global event.

The forum, an integral part of Jafza’s initiative of communicating with its customers and providing them with an ideal platform to discuss global trends and opportunities in different sectors, was a big success.

It was attended by some of the market leaders from the steel and construction industry such as Duke International, Conares, Danube, Pan Emirates Building Materials Trading and Alpin Metals, along with senior management of Jafza and representatives of DP World, Dubai Customs, Dubai Chamber, Trakhees, Dubai Exports, and the Port and Free Zone Security and a number of Jafza strategic partners who answered all the customer queries.-TradeArabia News Service




Tags: UAE | Construction | Jafza | growth |

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