Sharjah's SAIF safe business zone for Indians

Mumbai, Dec 17: If one wants to do business in a safe environment, then Sharjah Airport International Free Zone Authority (SAIF Zone) can be a place where one must think of anchoring the base, SAIF Zone Commercial Director Ashok Varma said today.

Addressing a seminar on 'Welcome to the freedom of doing business your way', held by Indian Merchants Chamber (IMC) here, Mr Varma said ''Apart from being the first airport free zone in the Middle East, the zone boasts of having access to over two billion consumers.'' The only requirement for doing business in the zone is one must have the minimum capital of US 40,000 dollars, he said.

He said the Zone has more than four per cent of clients from India including corporates like India Today Group, Godrej, Infosys, Wipro and Ashok Leyland.

Giving a projection of Sharjah's economic growth, Mr Varma said it is expected to be the 36th largest economy in the world by the end of the current financial year. It is evident by the fact that the GDP of the country during the current year was USD 162.06 billion.

On the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) doing business with India, he said the total Indian exports to the GCC countries have grown by 35 per cent in the recent past, while the imports were 112 per cent.

Humaid Abdullah Al-Khatri, acting Deputy Commercial Director of the Zone, said ''Sharjah is home to a large number of people from India and the number of Indians living in Sharjah is growing at a remarkable rate.'' He added that situated in the Emirate of Sharjah, the industrial powerhouse of the UAE, the Zone covers a wide cross-section of industry.

IMC Vice President Neeraj Bajaj said ''We have signed MoUs with over 89 Chambers of Commerce from over 50 countries all over the world.'' Set up in 1995, SAIF Zone is a premier business destination of the UAE, which provides an excellent entrepreneur-friendly industrial and business environment.

UNI