Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (Rakia) said it had issued a total of 370 licences to different businesses between January to April 30 thus registering a 78 per cent growth over the corresponding period last year.

This takes the total number of registered companies in Ras Al Khaimah to 2,941, said Dr Khater Massaad, CEO of Rakia, while speaking at the Arab International Industrial Forum (AIIF) that concluded recently in Doha.

Dr Massad said the number of trading licenses increased by 150 per cent from the first quarter of 2009 mainly due to the "introduction of new warehousing units in Rakia free zone and non free zone; low cost for rental space and increasing logistics companies using Ras Al Khaimah as their base."

The significance of the industrial parks in Ras Al Khaimah, including the free zones and industrial zones in the Al Hamra and Al Ghail areas of the emirate were also highlighted during the forum.

Dr Massad pointed out that over all the number of licences issued by Rakia had increased ten-fold in the last five years thus underlining Rakia’s strong performance in recent years.

The exhibition segment of the event provided an opportunity for RAK Ceramics, the largest ceramics manufacturer, to showcase its latest product line including the range of Slim tiles of up to 4.5 mm in thickness, the new Stone Art Collections featuring Kerajet technology and Orion Collections featuring Chroma technology.

"Investment activity in Arab countries is gaining momentum as expected and especially industrial investment is seeing increased interest. RAK for instance has been consistently attracting high-value investments from local and global investors to emirate’s free zones and non free zones,” said Dr Massaad, also the chief executive of RAK Ceramics.

He also highlighted the numerous industrial investment opportunities in RAK Ceramics and Rakia at the forum.

“The forum was held at a crucial juncture, when the economies of the Arab world in particular are witnessing steady recovery from the impact of the global financial crisis," he added.-TradeArabia News Service