DP World, China firm to boost int’l trade
dubai — An agreement to jointly construct a new ‘Traders Market’ at DP World’s flagship Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone in Dubai on a total build up area of three million square metres has been signed between the global trade enabler and the Zhejiang China Commodities City Group, providing further impetus to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
DP World will be building the ‘Traders Market’ within the Jebel Ali Free Zone Area located in Jafza South next to the Dubai Expo 2020 site. The market will include clusters of traders from all over the world, offering a wide range of products at one site. They will be divided by sector, ranging from household goods, building materials and food and beverage, to cosmetics and healthcare, energy and power, and engineering and technology.
Apart from promoting the Chinese government’s Belt and Road initiative, the ‘Traders Market’ will help Chinese, local and international manufacturers benefit from Dubai’s strategic location as a business and trade hub. It will also enable trade within the GCC, MEA and India Subcontinent regions, widening market reach for goods and serving as a platform to trade at competitive prices. The partnership complements an agreement that was signed earlier this year between DP World and the Zhejiang Seaport Investment and Operation Group (ZPG) for a ‘Straight-through Warehouse’ project in Yiwu, China – which is the world’s largest wholesale market for small commodities – for a warehouse that will hold cargo destined for Dubai and the Middle East.
Both projects aim to boost trade between the UAE and China by offering Chinese businesses DP World’s integrated logistics and trading solutions, including cargo handling at their terminals in China and Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, warehousing facilities in the neighbouring Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), one-stop customs clearance facilities and trade licenses.
Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone provides companies access to a local and regional market of more than 2 billion people, supplemented by DP World’s global network of 78 marine and inland terminals, which enable trade in countries that account for over 50 per cent of the world’s GDP. DP World Group chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, said: “Dubai and China have a long-standing trading history and it’s essential that we develop the movement of goods in tandem with the growing needs of consumers. Today people expect to receive their products quickly and efficiently and initiatives such as these will create the trade hubs and seamless supply chain opportunities needed to capitalise on global economic growth.
“The ‘Traders Market’ will provide an ideal platform for traders to showcase and sell goods in Dubai to local and international businesses. We look forward to working with the Zhejiang China Commodities City Group and will continue to support China’s Belt and Road initiative and innovate for mutually beneficial development.” China was Dubai’s number one trading partner in 2017, with total trade betweenthemamountingtoDh176.5 billion last year.
We wiill continue to support China’s Belt and Road initiative and innovate for mutually beneficial development Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem,
Group chairman and CEO, DP World
DUBAI – The Department of Planning and Development, an entity of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC), has announced that it will exempt Chinese traders in Dragon Mart 1 and Dragon Mart 2 from late licence renewal fines accumulated before July 19, 2018.
The move is in line with the official visit of China’s president Xi Jinping to the UAE, and aims to relieve Chinese businesses based in the Dragon Marts of extra charges provided that they renew their licence during the period of exemption
Dragon Mart’s Chinese businesses exempted from late licence renewal fines
which starts on July 19, 2018 and will last until December 31, 2018.
Around 87 percent of Chinese trading establishments are expected to benefit from the exemption, which will enable them to renew their business licences with more convenience, and further enhance the competitive investment environment and ease of doing business that are conducive to economic growth and expansion in the UAE. The exemption will surely give a boost to the trade of Chinese goods in local and regional markets. Dragon Mart is the largest trading hub for Chinese products outside mainland China and offers a unique platform for traders of Chinese goods in the Middle Eastern and North African Markets.
Dragon Mart 1 is a 150,000 sq.m, dragon-shaped retail complex divided into seven zones with a total of more than 3,500 outlets. Dragon Mart 2 offers one million sqft of retail space, and features nearly 1,000 shops, restaurants and entertainment outlets.