COUNTRY FOCUS: UAE
a brand to the extent where they would be
recognised internationally.
Intelligent CIO put further questions to
Mohsen Ahmad Alawadhi, CEO, Dubai
South, Logistics District.
Can you explain what exactly Dubai
South is?
Shoaib Al Rahimi, Vice-President of the
Business Park, Dubai South
They could outsource for the first few years
and then they could go for their own if
required. Otherwise, they could continue
utilising the outsourcing solutions and
this is what we focus on so it’s a win–win
situation for all the organisations or parties
which are here in the region.
What does your role as VP involve?
We don’t have a landlord and tenant
relationship. Our role is to create this
vibrant business hub together, where
we get business partners together and
create as many business opportunities
as possible for the sustainability of those
businesses in Dubai, where they could
have a space here and then fit all their
business requirements within the region.
Why is the Dubai government
so proactive when it comes to
promoting technology?
That’s basically where we’re heading
now. People are heading towards
e-commerce and in order to become
successful in the fastest time possible,
that’s when you will need to enhance and
to empower the technology and all the
support services like 5G. Without these
businesses wouldn’t succeed. We need
this place to be another Silicon Valley as
His Highness announced. For start-ups to
fulfil their potential you need enablers. So
the government has got to be an enabler
for start-ups to pursue their projects
well. If you don’t have the technology
infrastructure in place, it would be very
difficult for those businesses to grow into
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INTELLIGENTCIO
It started in 2006 as a masterplan around
the new airport where people would come
to work. The development started from a
logistics requirement that Dubai needed at
the time. The project itself was about 145
square kilometres so that’s quite big. You’re
talking about roughly 14 by 10 kilometres so
it’s quite large. It’s got various components
and, of course, the heart of it is the Dubai
International Airport.
ultimately changed to become the site for
the Expo 2020.
What sort of businesses have you got
represented there?
We’ve got over 5,000 companies registered
already within the zone between various
components of it. But if you want to talk
about the e-commerce specifically, we’ve got
people like Amazon, we’ve got Noon – the
two major e-commerce players in the region
at the moment. We were very successful
to have a company called FreshCry come
over here from India. It’s the number one
e-commerce company in India. So overall
there’s quite a mix of companies that are
based there.
Then you’ve got a few other components
around it. You’ve got a residential city or
district, then we’ve got the golf district and
we’ve got the commercial district which
is a mixed-use facility. Apart from those
you’ve got the sites for the International
Humanitarian City, which is a sort of non-
profit organisation.
Then you’ve got the two free zones that
are working there which is the Logistic
District and the Aerospace Hub which is
focused specifically on the aviation side of
it. Finally, we’ve got the site where there’s
going to be the Expo 2020. Early on, this was
set to become the Exhibition District that
Can you tell us about Easy Dubai
(e-commerce)?
It was launched by Sheikh Mohammed. It
was sort of creating a platform, one of its
kind, to address the e-commerce need when
it comes to a fulfilment centre. It’s got various
components again where we address the
fulfilment needs including last-mile delivery
and repair and return and, of course, there
are also the office components and multi-
users. It’s catered for big multinationals like I
mentioned about Amazon and Noon and the
rest of the big players, but it also caters for
any start-up, that’s looking at exploring the
e-commerce world.
What are the technology demands of
companies coming into the project?
Mohsen Ahmad Alawadhi, CEO, Dubai
South, Logistics District
Obviously, technology requirements are
demanding. These people will require the
proper fast speed connection and we are
making sure we have the infrastructure
available. Of course, with technology you do
have the need for quite a lot of power which
we are also addressing. n
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