Ramy Jallad, Group CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said he is looking forward to seeing increased bilateral investment and technological cooperation between RAKEZ and Shenzhen in the very near future.
Jallad made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Shenzhen Daily recently, as he led a delegation to Guangdong Province and visited the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dongguan in a bid to open up new opportunities for economic and trade cooperation.
Capitalizing on the favorable trade and investment climate between China and the UAE, RAKEZ has entrusted consultancy Deloitte to help it connect with Guangdong companies that have a desire to expand into overseas markets.
RAKEZ is based in the heart of Ras Al Khaimah, an emirate that lies in the northernmost part of the UAE.
According to Jallad, the purpose of his visit was to meet with entrepreneurs, investors and decision-makers to show them that they benefit from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by establishing companies or branches in Ras Al Khaimah, which can serve as a gateway to the UAE, the Middle East and the rest of the world.
“What we aim to achieve is to show them that Ras Al Khaimah is the right choice and right place for them to grow,” Jallad told Shenzhen Daily.
Jallad said that the strong relation between the UAE and China has greatly boosted trade and investment between the two countries, as China is the largest trading partner of the UAE, and the UAE is China’s largest non-oil trading partner in the Middle East and North Africa.
According to Jallad, the BRI has helped Chinese companies go global.
“It’s a very good initiative. We feel that we need to get more involved to show that Ras Al Khaimah is a good destination for business, logistics and trading, and for Chinese products and services to reach the global market.”
Jallad emphasized that RAKEZ takes pride in cost-effectiveness, ease of doing business and comprehensive services for manufacturers and businesses. For instance, one can set up an SME in the economic zone in less than an hour and a manufacturing company in less than two days.
“We make sure that all is in place so that companies can plug and play and focus on their business. We, as a service provider, provide all the A-to-Z services and value-added services to our clients,” he said.
According to Jallad, currently, there are approximately 500 Chinese companies in RAKEZ, mostly in the fields of trading, manufacturing, electronics, IT and software.
“I think one of the things that I really admire about Shenzhen is how fast distribution of products happen to make sure that it gets to the market all the way from supply chain to manufacturing to marketplace,” Jallad shared.
“That’s fascinating, especially with a big market like China or the city itself,” he said, adding that he is also impressed with the large number of SMEs and businesses that support the manufacturing or trading sectors.
Jallad believes that RAKEZ and Shenzhen can collaborate in many fields, and entrepreneurs and investors from both sides can work with each other to increase trade and share technology or produce products and services together.