JAFZA, DWC to be linked

Dubai World Central (DWC), home to Dubai's second airport and the Dubai Expo 2020 site, will establish a formal link with Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) that will flow of trade between the two entities, said a senior aviation official on Monday. Khalifa Al Zafein, Executive Chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation, said DWC is establishing a common IT and business platform with JAFZA. "We are located very close to Jebel Ali Port, which is the ninth largest container terminal in the world, and with the planned development of DWC for Expo2020, it is logical to create a common hub that will ease trade and help people improve their transactions,” said Al Zafein. Jebel Ali Port handles 13.3 million containers annually, with a plan to expand capacity to handle 18 million containers. "With DWC preparing to handle 12 million tonnes of cargo soon, the two free zones combined will become one of the largest trade and logistic hubs in the world,” he added. The 140 square kilometre master-planned city has been divided into several districts, including a humanitarian city that will house international humanitarian organisations including UNHRC and IHC. It is also home to an aviation hub that includes Al Maktoum International Airport that began its operations last year and is home to Dubai Air Show. The airport is set to have a capacity to handle 220 million passengers by EXPO 2020. The Expo itself is expected to attract 25 million people during its six months of operations. The other districts will be commercial, residential, logistic and golf. "DWC is going to be a thriving hub with mixed utility and by EXPO 2020 it will create 785,000 employment opportunities and around one million people will be living here,” added Al Zafein. Source: Gulf News