RAKIA maintains strong performance with 491 business licences issued in first four months of 2011

Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA), a major provider of investment opportunities and one-stop solutions in its free zones, industrial parks and offshore facilities as well as in real estate developments and other ventures, has revealed that it has issued 491 new licenses in the first four months of 2011, with April itself seeing as many as 130 licenses granted. RAKIA also pointed out that 556 licenses were renewed this year.

There are now 4,170 business licences issued by RAKIA since 2006, broken into 1,190 consulting/service companies, 1,291 trading/general trading businesses, 694 commercial companies, 660 industrial firms and 335 media businesses. With regard to the area of land leased, RAKIA reported that a total of 317,644 square meters have been leased in the first four months of 2011, carrying forward the momentum from the previous year when the total area of land leased reached over 1 million square meters from just 353,046 square metres in 2009. Further, the January to April 2011 period saw a total of 18,465 square meters of warehouse leased.

Dr. Khater Massaad, CEO, RAKIA, said: "By strengthening our global reach and through very productive marketing campaigns, we have accelerated the momentum from 2010, which also was an excellent year for us in terms of performance. The progress we have achieved in the first four months of 2011 puts us firmly on track for another highly successful and productive year. RAKIA continues to grow in appeal as an investment destination of choice both regionally and across the world, which is a testament to the strong support from the RAK Government and the quality of facilities we offer to investors.”   

RAKIA also revealed that its recent participation in the highly-awaited international trade shows –Hannover Messe and Industries Lyon in France – generated tremendous interest from several European countries and many foreign companies who are keen on setting up their operations in Ras Al Khaimah. Other key exhibitions that RAKIA participated this year include the Middle East Electricity Exhibition in Dubai; Gulf Industry Fair in Bahrain; Chem Tech in India; Gulf Food Exhibition in Dubai; Gulf Glass in Abu Dhabi; Plas Print Pack 3P Exhibition in Pakistan; 13^th OIC Expo in Sharjah.

The first four months of 2011 also saw RAKIA organise road shows in Pune - India, New York, Detroit, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah. It also participated in networking events such as ABC networking meeting in Dubai, Micro Machine Summit in Ras Al Khaimah and roundtable meetings organised in Mumbai – India by the Organisation of Plastic Processors of India and the Indian Speciality Chemicals Manufacturer's Association. 

RAKIA already has an impressive list of international companies registered with it, including: ARC International Middle East LLC and Becker Industrial Coatings LLC from France; Ashok Leyland, JBF RAK LLC, Naturalle LLC, Pioneer Cement, UltraTech Cement RAK LLC, Mahindra Armoured Vehicles FZ LLC, Eternity Technologies and Ocean Rubber Factory LLC from India; RAK Ghani Glass from Pakistan; Franke LLC from Switzerland; Guardian Zoujaj International Float Glass Co. LLC, A Schulman Plastics and ITW from the United States; Hanmaek United Arab Emirates (FZCO), POS-JK LLC, SEAH Steel UAE LLC and Yong Hwa(RAK) Steel Co.FZ LLC from South Korea. 

Since its establishment, RAKIA has become one of the pillars of the emirate's economic progress, attracting investors from all over the world through Free Zone and Non-Free Zone facilities of RAKIA's Industrial Zone and Free Zone in Al Hamra, and the Industrial Park in Al Ghail.