DAFZA and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport seek to connect business communities and entrepreneurs

Since the signing of the MoU, both DAFZA and DFW International Airport, which also has its own Foreign Trade Zone connected and affiliated with the airport, have been sharing best practices and investigating ways to further outreach to the business communities in both the UAE and U.S. seeking to further expand their businesses into new international markets.

This continuing process has resulted in the coordination of a number of business and trade mission initiatives between the two regions, and a plan to increase the sharing of local business news and activities with the mutual distribution of local business newsletters. Additionally, DFW Airport's Commercial Development website (http://www.dfwairport.com/landhere/index.php), which provides detailed information on the U.S. Foreign Trade Zone provides a link to DAFZA's website to inspire potential investors to Dallas/Fort Worth to additionally consider DAFZA as an operational regional hub for Middle East commercial expansion.

Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, Director General, DAFZA said: "The strategic alignment with DFW is a win-win agreement and I'm delighted to see some fruitful benchmarking practices between the various divisions of our entities. This is what we look forward to, with an objective to develop our services and enhance business partnership between our people and international investors particularly from the US," concluded Dr. Zarooni.

Jeff Fegan, CEO of DFW International Airport said: "As part of our growing reputation as the best entry point for business and travelers into the U.S., our success to date has been strongly influenced by our commitment to support and encourage our surrounding business communities and entrepreneurs to connect and seek opportunities abroad. Since the launch of the daily Emirates Airlines flight between Dubai and Dallas/Fort Worth in February 2012 two of the most economically and commercially vibrant hubs in our respective regions are now directly connected, and with DAFZA as our like-minded partner in Dubai, we are encouraging North Texas and American businesses to come to the UAE and use our and DAFZA's extensive networks and expertise to confidently seek new business opportunities that lead to mutual growth. Likewise, with our own Foreign Trade Zone we are encouraging UAE based companies to consider Dallas/Fort Worth as a potential base for market expansion to the Americas."