RAK FTZ Goes Global through CNN’s ‘Connect the World’
Oussama El Omari, RAK Free Trade Zone CEO was recently in the global spotlight when he appeared on CNN’s Global Connections segment to speak about UAE Free Zones. CNN’s “Global Connections” program tries to compare two seemingly different countries, in this case the UAE and Panama, and find a connection.
On the surface, the dry desert topography of the UAE is incongruent with the tropical lushness of Panama, making the two appear to have very little in common. Yet, in response to the CNN segment, which called for viewers to find similarities between the two countries, respondents were able to identify a number of connections, including their statuses as regional business and trade hubs, booming maritime industries, similar iconic buildings such as the UAE’s Burj Al Arab and Panama’s Trump Tower, and even a seeming penchant for the music of Lionel Richie.
Among these connections, CNN focused on business connections, in these two countries cases - their free zones, the economic common denominator that identifies the two countries as major business hubs in their respective regions. Hosted by Becky Anderson, the show premiered on CNN Primetime London on 17 September 2010 and featured a live interview with RAK FTZ’s CEO, Oussama El Omari, and Panama’s Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, Domingo Arias.
Arias shared that Latin America is enjoying a growing business model, with a 5 per cent increase in its GDP. “Panama is a business hub, a business platform, very trade friendly. We have a long experience doing business in the region. We have a government that is pro-business and good macroeconomic grounds.”
Commenting on the UAE, El Omari revealed that its free zones are also on the uptrend. “I will take one example, one of our free zones (Jebel Ali) that is handling over a hundred billion dollars worth of trade volume, 50 billion exports and 50 billion imports.” On the question of how RAK FTZ competes with the several other free zones in the UAE, he shared, “The UAE as a country has really succeeded in diversifying the free zones, so that they are not competitive, but rather, they complement each other.”
With their strategic positioning - the UAE in the Middle East, with proximity to Africa, Asia and even Southern and Eastern Europe, and Panama between North and South America – both countries share the advantage of location. This, in combination with strong government support and marketing influence, makes both countries extremely effective regional ‘connectors’.
