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Mapping Free Zones in the Gulf: Trends and Dislocations Read chapter Read first chapter

2021 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

6. Free Zones as Spheres of Regional Contestation

Author : Robert Mogielnicki

Published in: A Political Economy of Free Zones in Gulf Arab States

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Gulf free zones are not only embedded in complex flows of global capital but are also shaped by competing interests of states operating in the international arena. While there are instances of cooperative engagement among free zones in the Gulf, they also play a part in regional competition. This competition unfolds on multiple levels: through free zone development and associated spheres of economic autonomy, among free zones within a given emirate or state, and between free zones in different Gulf polities. Varying levels of access to state resources can provide a commercial edge in the value propositions needed to attract firm registrations. GCC rifts and Iranian involvement in the region have posed more serious challenges for free zone systems in the Gulf.

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previous chapter Elite Embeddedness in Free Zone Development
next chapter A Commercial Nexus Between East and West
Footnotes
1
Curiously, the ruler’s complaint also included the presence of “foreign labour” at Jebel Ali.
 
2
Interview 49, business journalist at Thomson Reuters, Abu Dhabi, UAE, July 24, 2016.
 
3
Interview 44, analyst at International Trade Department, World Bank, Washington, DC, June 20, 2016.
 
4
Interview 46, manager at Economic Zones World, Remote conversation from Dubai, UAE, July 23, 2016.
 
5
Interview 31, manager at Gold and Diamond Park, Dubai, UAE, May 15, 2016.
 
6
Similar competitive dynamics exist in China, where special economic zone development along the mainland’s coast has sparked concerns over the future position of Hong Kong as a gateway between the world and China (Leng 2017).
 
7
Interview 48, senior manager at Abu Dhabi Global Market, Abu Dhabi, UAE, July 24, 2016.
 
8
Some interviewees in Ras Al Khaimah, including an employee at another one of the emirate’s free zones, suggested that the RAK Media Free Zone was still operational despite it being completely closed and boarded-up upon the author’s visit.
 
9
Interview 21, program head at Hamriyah Free Zone, Sharjah, UAE, April 12, 2016.
 
10
Interview 55, a director from Hamriyah Free Zone, Sharjah, UAE,August 11, 2016 [Arabic].
 
11
Interview 58, manager at Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA), Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, August 14, 2016.
 
12
Interview 24, senior corporate manager of Fujairah Free Zone, Fujairah, UAE, April 18, 2016.
 
13
Interview 45, manager at USA Regional Trade Centre, Sharjah, UAE, July 21, 2016.
 
14
Interview 21, program head at Hamriyah Free Zone, Sharjah, UAE, April 12, 2016.
 
15
Coordination of industrial policy and duplicate economic development strategies have been a concern since the 1970s both within the UAE as well as in the wider GCC region (El Mallakh 1981, 58–59; Al-Yousef 1985, 124–128; Hvidt 2013, 40). Yet no such formal coordination concerning free zones has emerged within the UAE or across the GCC.
 
16
Interview 24, senior corporate manager of Fujairah Free Zone, Fujairah, UAE, April 18, 2016.
 
17
Interview 58, manager at Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA), Ras Al Khaimah, UAE,August 14, 2016.
 
18
Ibid.
 
19
Interview 45, manager at USA Regional Trade Center, Sharjah, UAE, July 21, 2016.
 
20
See: Umm Al Quwain Free Trade Zone Authority, Umm Al Quwain Free Trade Zone (Umm Al Quwain: UAQ FTZ Authority, collected in May 2016), 1.; Sharjah Airport International Free Zone, SAIF Zone Welcome to the Freedom of Doing Business Your Way (Sharjah: SAIF Zone, collected in August 2016), 4–5.; Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority, RAK Investment Authority: Doing Business Your Way (Ras Al Khaimah: Government of Ras Al Khaimah, collected in June 2016), 3.; Mantaqat ‘Ajman al-Hurra, Dalil al-Mustathmir (Ajman Free Zone, The Investor’s Guidebook) (Ajman: Ajman Free Zone, no date provided) [Arabic].
 
21
This was the case for Interviewee 34, a partner at a UK training company based in Abu Dhabi but registered to RAK Free Zone.
 
22
Interview 22, British owner of consulting firm registered in Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Free Zone, Abu Dhabi. April 14, 2016.
 
23
Interview 29, partner at Dubai-based law firm, Dubai, UAE, May 11, 2016.
 
24
Interview 30, managing director of an economic zones consultancy and secretary general of a global EPZ association, remote call from Dubai, May 11, 2016.
 
25
Interview 35, former consultant at JAFZA and managing director of consultancy focusing on special economic zones, Dubai, UAE, May 31, 2016; Interview 37, business editor at Times of Oman, Muscat, Oman, June 7, 2016.
 
26
Interview 37, business editor at an Omani daily newspaper. Muscat, Oman, June 7, 2016; Interview 41, staff member from Duqm Special Economic Zone, Muscat, Oman, June 12, 2016.
 
27
Interview 40, senior industrial estate and free zone manager, Salalah, Oman, June 9, 2016.
 
28
Interview 28, economic officer at the Economic Development Board, Manama, Bahrain, April 27, 2016.
 
29
See: Interview 54, manager of Bahrain International Investment Park, remote conversation from Dubai, UAE. July 26, 2016; Interview 67, senior corporate Manager at Bahrain Logistics Zone, Al Hidd, Bahrain, August 23, 2016.
 
30
Interview 53, manager of Bahrain International Investment Park, remote conversation from Dubai, UAE, July 26, 2016.
 
31
Interview 67, senior corporate manager at Bahrain Logistics Zone, Al Hidd, Bahrain, August 23, 2016.
 
32
Interview 53, manager of Bahrain International Investment Park, remote conversation from Dubai, UAE, July 26, 2016.
 
33
Interview 67, senior corporate manager at Bahrain Logistics Zone, Al Hidd, Bahrain, August 23, 2016.
 
34
Interview 75, former U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain, Washington, D.C., January 17, 2018.
 
35
For more information, please refer to the Chapter 4 section on Qatari free zones.
 
36
Figures based on a complete client list provided by Hamriyah Free Zone to the author in August of 2016.
 
37
Interview 40, senior industrial estate and free zone manager, Salalah, Oman, June 9, 2016.
 
38
Interview 42, director from the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates, Knowledge Oasis Muscat, Oman, June 12, 2016.
 
39
Interview 77, Dubai-based sanctions investigator for financial crime compliance department of a European bank, remote conversation from Washington, D.C., February 15, 2018.
 
40
Ibid.
 
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Metadata
Title
Free Zones as Spheres of Regional Contestation
Author
Robert Mogielnicki
Copyright Year
2021
Book
A Political Economy of Free Zones in Gulf Arab States

Print ISBN: 978-3-030-71273-0

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-71274-7

Copyright Year: 2021

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71274-7_6