UAE’s Ras Al Khaimah Free Zone needs Dh145 million ($39 million) in foreign investment to achieve its goals amid tough competition, a senior official said.
Total investment in Ras Al Khaimah is at least 50 percent lower than that in Dubai, said Sheikh Faisal bin Saqr Al Qasimi, head of the Ras Al Khaimah Free Zone.
He said Khor Khowair, which has been suffering from high pollution levels because it was the first industrial area in Ras Al Khaimah, has forced the emirate's free zone to move elsewhere, the Gulf News quoted him as saying.
Sheikh Faisal said national investors could rent land in the free zone for Dh1 for 99 years.
The economic and investment strategy adopted by the RAK Free Zone has been imitated by the Italian government in its project in southern Italy, director general Osamah Al Emari said. He said Ras Al Khaimah's strategy was based on giving investors room to play a more active role in economic development.
The free zone will open a new commercial link to Iran and central and East Asia, and will help to encourage investors in those areas to invest in Ras Al Khaimah. It will try to play a middleman's role in delivering goods from Europe, which is keen to open up the Iranian market for European companies, said the paper.
Al Emari said Ras Al Khaimah had many offers and proposed projects for investment like tourist villages. The free zone is encouraging clean and environment-friendly industries.
It will work on building some residential housing in the area so staff can be nearby. Priority will be placed on developing technological industries that depend on skilled manpower, he said – Albawaba.com
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