Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), the leading business and logistics hub recorded a total trade growth of 24% and an increase of 7% in its customer base year-on-year in 2019, reinforcing its status as a preferred destination for businesses related to food & agricultural commodities.
The Free Zone has a dedicated Food and Agriculture cluster of 1.57 million square metres with over 550 companies from more than 70 countries, employing over 6,000 people. Thirty-eight per cent of these companies are from the Middle East, 23% from Asia, 19% from Europe, 10% from Africa, 8% from North America, 1% from South America and 1% from Oceania.
Jafza is home to some of the region’s top players in the industry such as Bayara, Al Khaleej Sugar, Alokozay, Nestle, Heinz, Unilever, Hunter Foods to name a few.
The strategic location and premium facilities of Jafza have made it the preferred destination for many countries globally — including Brazil, the USA, Pakistan, Netherlands and South Africa, importing sugar, meat, cocoa, and dairy products.
Meanwhile, Iraq, India and Saudi Arabia are among the top export destinations, exporting coffee, tea, fruits, spices and dairy products.
Mohammed Al Muallem, CEO & Managing Director, DP World, UAE Region and CEO of Jafza, said: “We have explored ways to further facilitate food trade and distribution while maintaining the continuity of food supply, which is crucial to the UAE and the region.
Jafza Records 10.6% Increase in Retail and e-Commerce Business
"Our mandate is to prioritise the needs of citizens and residents, and we have worked towards sustainability, ensuring sufficient food is available. We have ensured business continuity and a prompt recovery for the post COVID-19 economy.
"Illustrating Dubai's role as a major gateway for global trade, the emirate’s external food trade volumes in the first half of this year reached nine million tonnes, representing $8.7 billion in total, whereas Dubai’s food imports touched $6 billion.
DP World, UAE Region’s multimodal connectivity reinforces Dubai’s long-term commitment to maintain the growth and development of regional trade.
Thanks to Jafza's strategic location near Jebel Ali Port, it offers connectivity to over 3.5 billion consumers.
To make it easier for investors and business owners in times of COVID-19, smart services from Dubai Trade include the “E-Delivery Order” to allow supply chain stakeholders to handle their complex import processes and ZADI, an innovative unified food import platform aimed at facilitating the import and re-export of food shipments throughout Dubai ports.
With Jafza, food and agricultural businesses can benefit from advanced packaging solutions, and avail pre-built warehouses for high quality storage.
It has also introduced a Halal Incubation Centre to encourage traders to launch their halal business in Dubai.
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