World FZO 2nd Annual International Conference and Exhibition

Chairman's Message Dear World FZO Community, World Free Zones Organization reached a new milestone earlier this month. Under the patronage of HH Sheik...
Author: Tobias Burke
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Chairman's Message Dear World FZO Community, World Free Zones Organization reached a new milestone earlier this month. Under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, World FZO hosted its 2nd Annual International Conference and Exhibition (AICE) in Dubai again on the 9th – 11th May. This year’s theme “Global Value Chain: Opportunities for the Free Zone of the Future” was inaugurated by HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. World FZO’s AICE is the perfect platform for free zone authorities and tenants to exchange knowledge and experience, to network and to conduct B2B. The 2nd AICE brought together 680 delegates from 60 countries and it hosted 37 speakers with a variety of expertise. Some of the prominent keynote speeches were given by HE Sultan Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy in UAE, Joakim Reiter, Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD and Alexander Mora, Minister of Foreign Trade in Costa Rica. This month’s newsletter is dedicated to the success and great achievement of World FZO’s 2nd AICE. Have a good read and as always, we welcome your feedback and comments.

World FZO 2nd Annual International Conference and Exhibition

HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai attends the Opening Ceremony of the

World FZO 2nd Annual International Conference and Exhibition.

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Launch of Free Zone of the Future In the presence of HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, the ‘Free Zone of the Future’ (FZF) program was launched. The FZF Program is a global initiative revolving around three main pillars that will enable free zones around the world to contribute to a secure and sustainable future. The pillars constituting the program are: Excellence and Best Practices; Innovation and Entrepreneurship; and Sustainability. These three pillars contain nine components to help determine the tools and resources required for facilitating the program to achieve its long-term objectives.

Panel Discussions A total of five panel discussions were held during the conference. The first panel discussed Governance in Global Value Chains (GVCs) and focused on the evolution of Global Value Chains in an increasingly interdependent world. Speaking on the topic, Henry Yeung, Professor of Economic Geography in National University of Singapore said: “There needs to be a focus on the idea of strategic coupling, which is to think of how domestic firms can couple with the competitive imperatives of global firms in global production networks. It is equally important to encourage the collaboration between foreign firms and domestic firms. These linkages need to be developed as they grow local SMEs into significant players in the global economy.”

This was followed by a panel that examined global free zone challenges, and the implications of various policies and incentives that impact investment and operations in free zones around the world. The panel highlighted the importance of analyzing the investment policy, human resource skills building, trade facilitation, lean bureaucratic processes and quality of life offered and other incentives being used by the governments to attract FDI and retain local investment.

The third panel focused on GVCs from a multinational corporation perspective, and discussed the significant role played by MNCs in the rise of such global production networks as they seek locational advantages to match their specific needs. Habib Fekih, President of Airbus Middle East and Tom Barnes, CEO of Integration Point, conveyed the MNC perspective in the panel discussion. The fourth panel of the conference highlighted the impact of Global Value Chains (GVC) on the free zones of the future, as well as the opportunities they presented for economic development. Speaking in the panel discussion, Gary Gereffi, Professor of Sociology, and founding director of the Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness at Duke University, USA, described the freezones of the future as a meeting point, and elaborated on how they had changed over time. He also highlighted the importance of being aware of inefficient processes that cause a freezone to lose money. To combat this, Gereffi advised attendees to invest in technologies and processes that allow them to avoid such inefficiencies. The final panel took it further to explore the next practices, rather than best practices, for the Free Zone of the Future and it was based on a workshop that took place earlier. Speaking in the panel discussion on the best practices utilised in freezones, Mohan Guruswamy, Chief Knowledge Officer at World FZO, UAE, noted that there is a positive relationship between global economic growth and the growth of freezones. He also spoke about how technology plays a major role in changing the landscape of the global economy.

Workshops During the conference, various workshops were running simultaneously. Workshop topics included Attracting Investment to Free Zones, Setting up a Free Zone, Next Practices, Green Zones, Innovation and Economic Impact of Free Zones. Experts from the World Bank, SRI International, Dubai Carbon, Investment Consulting Associates, Potential, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Personal Cities conducted the workshops.

World FZO Board Meeting World Free Zones Organization held the 5th Board of Directors meeting; the meeting included a general address from Dr Mohammed Alzarooni, Chairperson, followed by a report from the CEO. Auditors KPMG also presented the 2015 financial statement, which was approved by the 13 other board members and later by the General Assembly. The next board meeting will be on the 14th November 2016.

World FZO General Assembly The last day of the conference hosted the 2nd General Assembly. During the two hour assembly, 65 voting members re-elected the Board of Directors, approved the organizations audit report, approved the financials for 2015 and budget for 2016. After careful consideration, Dr. Mohammed Alzarooni, Chairperson also announced that as of July 2016 membership costs will be reduced from $3000 to $1500 per annum for Voting and Associate members. For more information on membership please contact [email protected]

Bids for our 3rd Annual International Conference and Exhibition started late last year. Expression of interest were received from 7 candidates, of which three voting members were shortlisted; National Association of Industries (ANDI), Colombia, Freeport of Riga, Latvia and Association of Free Zones, Panama (AZOFRAP). The finalists were asked to present their proposal to the Board of Directors ahead of the General Assembly. The winner was selected through voting process amongst the board and Cartagena was selected as the next host city. The 4th AICE will be back in Dubai and bids for the 5th AICE is open from now. For more information on hosting the AICE please contact [email protected]

Launch of New Services FZ Monitor and Incentive Map New services were launched during the conference like the Free Zone Monitor and the Incentive Map. The Free Zone Monitor is an electronic tool that measures, benchmarks and ranks free zones based on their attractiveness as potential investment location. The Incentive Map is a map that pinpoints the investments made in 20 countries during the past 5 years. Self-assessment Tool Dr Samir Hamrouni, CEO of World FZO has announced that World FZO will introduce selfassessment tools for free zones. This tool will be a diagnostic one which identifies where a free zone stands and pinpoints the existing gaps. The self-assessment tool will be accompanied by a manual and a procedure for implementation. The main three areas that these tools are intended to diagnose are green zones, safe zones and innovation in zones. The green zone self-assessment tool will be ready on June 30, 2016. World FZO Executive Education Program The conference concluded with the launch of the World Free Zone Executive Program in partnership with IESE Business School. The program is set to provide a cutting-edge executive development experience tailored to the needs of free zone leaders. It will be delivered over six months in different locations around the globe like Dubai, New York, Shanghai and Barcelona, starting the 26th of September 2016. The deadline for applying is 30th June 2016. For more information contact [email protected]

MoUs

World FZO signed MoU with Mexican Association of Industrial Parks

World FZO signed MoU with BASCAP .

. World Free Zones Organization 1090, 1st Floor, 7W-B, Dubai Airport Free Zone | PO Box 371113 Dubai, United Arab Emirates T: +971 4 204 5473 | F: +971 4 295 2945 | E: [email protected]

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