Vietnam to boost ties with Jafza

A high-level Vietnamese delegation, led by Deputy Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Luong Le Phuong recently met with senior officials from Jafza to discuss the investment opportunities in the free zone and to increase the scope of co-operation between the two sides. The 37-member delegation headed by Deputy Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, included the Chairman of Sao Khue, Vietnam’s most successful investment & trade promotion organisation, Ambassador and Commercial Counsellor to the UAE, Director of Department of Industry and Trade, Kien Giang Province among other envoys and officials from various bodies and organisations from Kien Giang, the southern province of An Giang and other areas of Vietnam. They met with Talal Al Hashimi, Managing Director of Economic Zones World, UAE Region, the parent organisation of Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza). The visiting officials were taken on an extensive tour of the Free Zone’s various award-winning facilities. Talks between the delegation and Jafza representatives focused on investment opportunities, facilities and services offered by Jafza to help companies serve the Middle East markets efficiently. Introducing Jafza to the delegation Talal Al Hashimi explained the important role Jafza has played and continues to play in overall development of Dubai. Al Hashimi also shared Jafza’s dynamic business vision of creating a multi-dimensional logistics platform with world class infrastructure and services to facilitate trade across the region. In 2010, Jafza’s trade with Vietnam amounted to Dhs1.43 billion, approximately 42 per cent of Dubai’s total non-oil trade of Dhs3.42 billion with the South East Asian nation. The delegation discussed current trade initiatives and talked of the opportunities to further enhance mutual co-operation between the countries. Talal Al Hashimi said: “We are very pleased to welcome officials from Vietnam. Vietnam is one of Asia’s most promising economies despite the fact that the country’s current growth rates are not as high as they were last decade. The Government’s such initiatives will have positive impact on trade and commerce and the delegation’s visit to Jafza demonstrates the country’s sincere desire to expand their business operations into the resource rich Middle East region.” “Currently, companies from Vietnam are underrepresented in Jafza and we feel there is enormous potential to reverse that phenomenon,” Talal Al Hashimi said. Jafza offers pre-built facilities for warehouses and factories to customers to meet their needs for high quality storage and light manufacturing and these are ready infrastructure plots of various sizes that they offer to construct facilities such as warehouses, factories or offices. Land plot sizes range from 2500 sqm up to any size requested by the customers. “Jafza’s unmatched infrastructure facilities and value-added free zone advantages will help facilitate the growth of these companies and help them target untapped markets in the Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region,” Talal Al Hashimi added.