DWC set for 2016 cargo expansion

Dubai World Central ( DWC) will make a “significant amount” of leasable warehouses available in the 21 square kilometre logistics park from 2016, said a senior DWC executive yesterday.

DWC is building the warehouses in a bid to attract small and medium enterprises ( SME) to the freezone. It completed the first three warehouses in 2012 and a fourth will be delivered in mid- 2015.

Mohsen Ahmad, vice president of the logistics district at DWC, told reporters the warehouses allow companies set up in DWC and not “be burdened with the heavy investment.”

“Our objective is to bring more SMEs [ to the logistics park],” he said.

DWC’s logistics park has already attracted DHL, Aramex and Emirates SkyCargo and IKEA’s new regional redistribution centre is currently under construction.

“The bigger guys are the drivers,” Ahmad told reporters at a warehouse opening.

DWC wants companies from the oil and gas, fashion, perishables, life sciences, information technology, telecoms and critical spare parts sectors to set up in the freezone.

DWC also has Al Maktoum International Airport, which will one day be the emirate’s main airport with airlines expected to eventually move from Dubai International.

A timeline of when airlines are to move across is yet to be made public, meaning cargo carried in the belly of passenger planes is expected to continue to be handled at Dubai International. However, Ahmad said 2016 is when “a lot of the cargo” will shift to DWC.