Dubai Aviation City Corporation Executive Chairman outlines Dubai's strategic focus on transport and logistics at SITL Dubai 2009

Al Zaffin made those remarks during his keynote address at SITL Dubai 2009, the world's most comprehensive industry forum, which took place from November 3-5, 2009, for the first time ever in Dubai. Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai Aviation City Corporation (DWC), who also provided the official opening of the event that hosts delegates from more than 50 nations, the three-day event is organised in association with DWC-Dubai Logistics City.

Dubai World Central is an integral component of the city's long-term vision of sustainable growth in the transport and logistics sector, Al Zaffin told delegates.

"Dubai is uniquely positioned to offer the world's business community competitive supply-chain advantages that will help achieve improved customer care, reduced costs and an improvement in supply-chain predictability. Located halfway between the time zones of London and Hong Kong, goods can now travel non-stop from Dubai to the entire world, including reaching a market of 4bn people within an eight-hour flight."

said Al Zaffin.

Dubai represents the trade, investment and knowledge hub for the Gulf, which has a young and vibrant population of 40m and an economy that has grown three-fold in only five years to $1 trillion. The city is also in the heart of the wider Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region that stretches from Casablanca to Calcutta. The MENASA region is home to 1.6bn people, or one-quarter of the world's population, and has a combined GDP of $3.2 trillion.

The upcoming Dubai World Central community, Al Zaffin pointed out, has been designed to support the city's aviation, tourism, commercial and logistics requirements until 2050 and beyond, representing one of the most important developments in the history of the country.

In line with its commitment to enhance the status of Dubai as an international hub for transport and logistics, DWC is hosting official delegations from Belgium, France and Italy during the course of SITL Dubai 2009. These high-level meetings are aimed at enhancing existing bilateral ties and exploring possible commercial partnerships in future.

"Despite the current challenges posed by the global financial crisis, long-term trade-flow patterns make Dubai an attractive platform to serve an array of worldwide markets, including the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States," he said. "In this regard, it is important to note that Dubai is the ideal transshipment point to shift from sea freight to air freight - serving those markets overnight and reducing transit times. Today, it is possible to go from a warehouse in Dubai to a retail store shelf in Frankfurt overnight."