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Ajman / WAM
Mahmoud Khalil Al Hashemi,
Director-General of Ajman Free Zone, has announced the opening of two new representative offices in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, and Johannesburg in the Republic of South Africa.
The move comes within the framework of geographical expansion plans, which Ajman Free Zone has embarked upon and due these cities’ commercial and investment’s significance on the continent of Africa, bringing the representative offices of the Zone to seven international offices.
Al Hashemi announced that Ajman Free Zoon opened its doors to Tanzanian investment with a range of promising opportunities amid an environment of laws and facilities allowing the establishment of strong partnerships between the two countries in vital economic sectors.
He said that the Ajman Free Zone office in the Tanzanian capital aims to expand the prospects of economic and investment cooperation with Tanzania, in addition to strengthening the bonds of bilateral relations in line with joint investment and economic aspirations. Al Hashemi said that Tanzania is one of the promising vital markets in Eastern Africa, with trade and investment opportunities for the export of goods and products manufactured in the UAE, or re-exported to the east of the African continent, as well as a location near to neighbouring important markets such as Burundi, Rwanda and Zambia.
The Director-General of Ajman Free Zone stressed that expansion in Tanzania also comes in line with the efforts of the United Arab Emirates to raise its share in the Tanzanian market.
An official report noted that UAE trade with Tanzania through free zones amounted to about US$1.022 billion in recent years, a growth rate of 51.9 percent, rising from US$405.9 million to US$616.4 million, while the UAE’s exports to Tanzania through free zones rose from US$23.6 million to US$27.8 million, an increase of 17.8 per cent, and re-export through UAE free zones to Tanzania have recorded an increase of 52.5 percent, rising from US$369 million to US$571 million.
Imports through the free zones recorded an increase of 32.3 percent, rising from US$13.3 million to US$17.6 million and the trade balance in UAE trade with Tanzania in free zones recorded a surplus for the Emirates with US$379.3 million, bringing the surplus to US$581.2 million, an increase of 53.2 percent.
On the sidelines of the office’s opening, the Ajman Free Zone’s delegation, headed by Mr. Al Hashemi and comprising a number of senior membership, met with a number of senior businessmen and officials of both investment and media to discuss establishing joint trade and investment partnerships between the two countries, and the importance of expanding and developing economic relations between them to levels that achieve the ambitions of both sides in development and prosperity.
The head of the Ajman Free Zone delegation said that the zone is ready to provide all facilities and arrangements to ensure provision of the best services and products to potential investors, pointing out that the Ajman Free Zone is one of the fastest-growing free zones in the region.
He pointed out that the Ajman Free Zone will continue its efforts to keep pace with growth, saying that the future will witness more developments that are focused on clients and the services provided to them.