São Paulo –Ras Al Khaimah Free Zone (RAK FTZ), in the United Arab Emirates, disclosed on Monday (18) that 522 new companies were registered to operate in the first quarter of 2011, growth of 17% over the same period in 2010. Still in the first three months of this year, 970 companies renewed their operating licenses, growth of 36.6% in the same comparison.
With this, the number of companies authorised to operate in the free zone exceeded 5,000. The administration of RAK FTZ evaluates that the good performance reached in "an extremely difficult economic environment in the region" shows the good standards of services offered by the enterprise. Some of the countries of the Middle East and North Africa lived political crises, but the Emirates is not among them.
According to RAK FTZ, among the new companies registered, 140 are from India, 43 from the United Kingdom, 29 from Egypt, 27 from Pakistan, 24 from Turkey, 20 from France, 16 from Germany, 15 from the United States, 13 from Jordan and 13 from Russia.
"Our economic development policy has won the confidence of investors all over the world, as verified with the newly registered companies and renovations," said the CEO of RAK FTZ, Oussama El Omari, according to a press statement by the organisation.
The RAK FTZ press release also pointed out the investment in infrastructure that is being made in the Northeastern region of the country, where Ras Al Khaimah emirate is located. According to the organisation, US$ 43.3 million should be turned to water supply and generation of solar energy and US$ 822 million in highways and sanitation.
*Translated by Mark Ament