The International Media Production Zone (iMPZ), a 50 million square foot free zone dedicated to the development of the media production, printing, publishing and packaging industries, recently hosted the judging ceremony for the World Packaging Organisation’s (WPO) World Star Packaging Design Awards for Students.
Fifteen senior delegates from the WPO, the United Nation’s International Trade Centre together with representatives from the Asian Packaging Federation , (APF), met in Dubai to review entries for the first student design awards competition. Mohamed Bin Ghalib, iMPZ’s Executive Director, and John Larson, iMPZ’s Business Development Manager, attended the proceedings where the work of 36 finalists was reviewed.
Entries were submitted from many countries around the world including Turkey, South Africa and the UAE. Notably the winner of the UAE’s own packaging design awards in 2004, an innovative tissue box presentation by Sharjah’s Ms Obeid Hamda, has been put forward as one of the finalists. Winners will be announced during the next WPO board meeting being held in Prague during October.
Commenting on behalf of the iMPZ, Mohamed Bin Ghalib said “when we first planned the development, we decided to focus on packaging as a key business area. We knew that this was a strong and vital element of media production on a global, regional and local basis.” With a global market value of US$ 485 billion annually, it’s not surprising that iMPZ is keen to have the packaging industry fully represented in the development.
In addition to the award judging, iMPZ hosted the bi-annual Board meeting of the APF on the second day of meetings. Agenda items included the report of APF efforts in the Tsunami disaster relief as well as an ITC report on packaging research, training and initiatives in emerging market nations. Supporting international industry groups such as the WPO and APF is seen as part of a strategy where the iMPZ can get their message across to the broader packaging industry.
The region’s own packaging association is being formed within the iMPZ umbrella with the guidance of the WPO, members of the industry and Gulf Pack, the region’s only packaging trade fair.
About the International Media Production Zone (iMPZ)
The International Media Production Zone (iMPZ) is the first Free Zone in the region dedicated to media production activities. The initiative, part of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defence Minister’s vision to develop Dubai into a global media hub, provides a highly pro-business environment and a complete technology and community infrastructure to support and foster the growth of media production. Located on an area of over 50 million sq. ft of land, iMPZ seeks to create a cluster environment for media production companies from across the industry value chain to interact and collaborate productively. While the infrastructure will support all sectors of the media and entertainment industry, the first production cluster will focus on the printing, packaging and publishing sectors. The initiative brings a wide range of benefits to the industry. Companies joining the Zone can have 100 per cent ownership. They are exempt from a range of taxes including those for machinery, equipment, raw materials and spares utilized by the industry. Furthermore, rules governing media production have been simplified to provide companies in the Zone tremendous ease of operations. Apart from state-of-the-art communications and technology facilities, the Zone will offer land and pre-built printing, production and warehousing units. High-quality thermally-insulated production units will be made available on annual rental basis. Each unit will be a complete facility for production operations with exits for loading and unloading raw materials and finished goods. Printing companies will have the option of taking multiple units or having a combination of both land and production units. Companies joining the District will also have the choice of developing their own infrastructure. The entire zone will be set in an eco-friendly environment. iMPZ is a member of Dubai Holding.
