Dubai on Tuesday, May 29, officially launched the first phase of a $40 million jewelry park, which offers foreign manufacturers full ownership of their businesses.
"The Gold and Diamond Park...will give a major impetus to the gold and diamond industry in Dubai and help to enhance the city's reputation as a leading international jewelry manufacturing base," Mohamed Al-Abbar, the chairman of real estate firm Emaar Properties, said in a statement.
"This is just the first phase of the park that will eventually provide facilities that will make this one of the world's major centers for the manufacturing of gold and diamond jewelry of the highest international quality," he added.
The statement said the first phase of the park, a three-story development built at a cost of 30 million dirhams (eight million dollars), was fully let with 118 manufacturers and 30 retailers operating from there.
Dubai, a major bullion re-export center, has been moving towards expanding its jewelry industry in a bid to cash in on expanding tourism to the emirate. When completed, the park will comprise five manufacturing blocks, two office blocks and a visitors’ center featuring 30 retail stores.
Emaar Properties last year signed an agreement with Jebel Ali Free zone extending benefits enjoyed by investors in the zone to foreigners investing in the park, including 100 percent ownership of their businesses.
Foreign investors in Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, currently need a UAE partner to set up business, except at Jebel Ali Free Zone. ― (Reuters, Dubai)
© Reuters 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
