The Hindu : Sharjah Free Zone relaxes investment norms

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 14, 2003

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Sharjah Free Zone relaxes investment norms

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI FEB. 13. The Hamriyah Free Zone in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, operationalised in 1998, has recently relaxed some of the terms governing investors to make it more attractive, according to the zone authorities.

For instance, the period of lease of land/factory has been increased to 25 years, with a provision for renewing it for another 25 years, against the previous formula of 15 years plus 15 years.

The minimum capital requirement of companies/businesses being incorporated to operate in the zone (as distinct from branches operating in the zone) has been reduced to $41,000 from $150,000. The minimum allotment of space has been reduced from 5,000 sq. m. to 2,500 sq. m.

Making a presentation on the zone under the auspices of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, New Delhi, and the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry here recently, the zone authorities said easy access to markets in Europe, Africa and Asia, nil taxation on import/export and incomes, total ownership by non-citizens, free repatriation of profits, total freedom to employ expatriates and duty of only 5 per cent in the case of sale of products from the zone in the UAE market itself (and nil duty in the case of food products) were major attractions to investors, especially from India.

The Hamriyah Free Zone (www.hamriyahfz.com) granted licences for light manufacturing/fabrication/processing/assembly/packaging and the like (namely, industrial licence), commercial licence (import/export), service licence and National Industrial Licence. The Sharjah international airport provided connection to more than 200 countries, the officials pointed out. One-fourth of the investors in the zone at present were from India, they said.

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