MoU in line with proactive efforts to boost Dubai’s leadership position as global trade hub & enhance support to Expo 2020

February 1, 2020: In a bid to further contribute to enhancing trade flow in Dubai’s leading free zones, DP World, UAE Region and Dubai South signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enable its flagship Free Zone, Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) and Dubai South to facilitate the seamless entry and exit of goods between them and enhance services to their customers.

The agreement was signed between H.E. Khalifa Al Zaffin, Executive Chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation and Dubai South, and Mohammed Al Muallem, CEO & Managing Director of DP World, UAE Region, and CEO of Jafza at the Dubai South headquarters in the presence of senior management executives and officials of both organizations.

H.E. Khalifa Al Zaffin, Executive Chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation and Dubai South, said: “In line with the vision of our leaders to maintain Dubai’s excellence in the facilitation of goods and services, the signing of agreement with DP World is part of our proactive efforts to ensure more efficient operations and, thereby, smoother transport of goods between the Dubai South and Jafza. This will provide great benefits, especially for companies and participants of the upcoming Expo 2020, which will require easy processing of their entry and exit between these free zones.”

Mohammed Al Muallem, CEO & Managing Director of DP World, UAE Region and CEO of Jafza, said: “DP World, UAE Region and Dubai South have taken a major step towards further enhancing the logistics and supply chain efficiencies required to support the on-going work at Expo 2020 site.

As the Premier Global Trade Partner of Expo 2020, DP World’s flagship Jebel Ali Port is the principal gateway to Expo-related cargo. We believe the thousands of companies using the port and operating out of Jafza and Dubai South will benefit immensely as a result of our cooperation.”

The MoU explores various areas of cooperation between DP World, UAE Region and Dubai South aimed at enhancing the services for customers at the security gates by unifying policies and procedures between the two free zones. In addition to the supply chain route efficiencies, the two sides will also engage in an exchange of knowledge in leading industry practices that would further enhance the management of trade flows between Jafza and Dubai South.

Dubai South has been one of the fastest growing free zones and preferred trade gateway in the UAE, serving key regional markets including Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. The 145-square-kilometer free zone is the venue of Expo 2020 and is close to Dubai’s second state-of-the-art airport, the Al Maktoum International and one of the world’s busiest ports, Jebel Ali Port. Dubai South’s Logistics Corridor, a unique 200-sqkm custom bonded zone which connects air, land and sea, pioneering a new global standard for goods handling of within four hours from sea to air.

DP World, UAE Region is a key engine of economic growth for Dubai, contributing to over a third of the GDP (33.4 per cent). The holistic ecosystem it has created through Jebel Ali Port and Jafza offers an end-to-end logistics landscape unique to the region, reaching out to over 3.5 billion people in some of the most dynamic emerging economies in the world today. Jafza is home to over 7,500 companies, while Jebel Ali Port handled 3.6 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container unit) in 3Q2019.