Dubai Textile City set to open in November

Dubai: The much delayed launch of the Dubai Textile City (DTC) will take place in November, a statement said.

"Dubai's highly innovative and inspirational free zone, Dubai Textile City, is scheduled to open today , with the formal opening set to take place by the end of November," an e-mailed statement issued by the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), said.

Spread across six million square feet of land just ten minutes from the Dubai International Airport, the DTC will cater for the UAE's growing textile trading industry, making Dubai a textile hub within the region.

The DTC, being operated by Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (JAFZA), will provide a modern integrated complex and is a joint venture between Texmas (Textile Merchants Group, the apex body of the UAE textile merchants) and Dubai Ports & Customs.

The free zone has been designed to provide self-sufficient units, each with a front office and warehouse, thus providing traders with the necessary infrastructure to be very close to their inventories. It is also expected that the worldwide publicity and promotion of DTC will bring new markets and customers to traders in Dubai.

"Dubai's spectrum of 'cities' and free zones offer international businesses a range of opportunities, empowering commercial success within the emirate. The free zones enable businesses to develop and flourish within a safe and dynamic environment, and are designed to complement and contribute towards Dubai's continued economic growth and commercial development," said Baerbel Kirchner, director of DTCM's UK and Ireland representative office of the DTCM.

Major advantages and incentives for businesses setting up in a free zone are entitlement to absolute foreign ownership of the enterprise, 100 per cent import and export tax exemptions, 100 per cent repatriation of capital and profits, and no corporate taxes for 15 years.