Global Free Zones

GLOBAL OutLOOk
GLOBAL FREE ZONES OF tHE FutuRE 2010/11

Global Free Zones
of the Future
2010/11 Winners
fDi MAGAZiNE’S FiRSt GLOBAL RANkiNG OF EcONOMic
ZONES HAS AwARdEd SHANGHAi wAiGAOqiAO FREE tRAdE
ZONE tHE titLE OF GLOBAL FREE ZONE OF tHE FutuRE
2010/11. Jacqueline Hegarty REpORtS ON tHE RESuLtS

June/July 2010

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GLOBAL OutLOOk
GLOBAL FREE ZONES OF tHE FutuRE 2010/11

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free
Trade Zone (WFTZ), the largest
free-trade zone in China, has
been recognized by fDi Magazine as
the ‘Global Free Zone of the Future
2010/11’. This is in part due to the
large number of companies that have
set up operations in Shanghai WFTZ;
more than 9000 companies –
accounting for one-third of all foreign companies moving into
Shanghai – have set up in thiszone.
Shanghai WFTZ also came top in the
categories of ‘Best Facilities’ and ‘Best
Port Zone’.
Economic zones based in the
United Arab Emirates dominated the
Free Zones of the Future 2010/11 ranking, with seven of the top 25 zones
coming from the UAE. Not only did
Dubai Airport Free Zone rank as second overall, it also ranked second in
the ‘Best FDI Promotion Strategy’ and
‘BestTransportation’ categories.
The top three in the ‘Best
Economic Potential’ category was led
by the city of San Luis Potosi in
Mexico, followed closely by Industrial
Estates in Thailand and the Jebel Ali
Free Zone in the UAE. Clark Freeport

in the Philippines, Togo Export
Processing Zone, and Chittagong
Export Processing Zone in Bangladesh
were the top three in the ‘Best Cost
Effectiveness’category.
fDi Magazine’s rankings, which
took more than four months to compile, ranked eight UAE zones in the
‘Best Transportation’ top 10, with
Jebel Ali Free Zone and Dubai Airport
Free Zone taking the top two positions and Dubai Media City and
Dubai Knowledge Village ranking
joint in third position. Dubai Media
City, Dubai Airport Free Zone and
Dubai Knowledge Village also claimed
the toppositions in the ‘Best FDI
Promotion Strategy’ category.
The independent judging panel
scored Dubai Knowledge Village,
Dubai Media City and Ajman Free
Zone (UAE) as the top three zones in
‘Best Incentives’.
South Carolina Foreign Trade
Zones # 21 & 38, based in the US,
topped the ‘Best Airport Zone’ category, followed by Aqaba Special
Economic Zone (Jordan), Tanger Free
Zone (Morocco),El Paso FTZ # 68 (US)
and Bahrain International Airport.

top 25 FREE ZONES OF tHE FutuRE 2010/11: OVERALL
RANK

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NAme of zoNe

couNtRy

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25=
25=

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free trade Zone
dubai Airport Free Zone
San Luis potosi
Aqaba Special Economic Zone
Free port of Ventspils
dubai knowledgeVillage
duBiotech
tanger Free Zone
Bahrain Logistics Zone
dubai Media city
Lodz Special Economic Zone
industrial Estates of thailand
Bahrain international Airport
Jebel Ali Free Zone
Free trade Zones of Guatemala
dubai Studio city
walbrzych Special Economic Zone
togo Export processing Zone
clark Freeport
klaipeda Free Economic Zone
dubai international Academic city
industrial andFree Zone kukuljanovo
dahej Special Economic Zone
Bahrain international investment park
Masan Free trade Zone
South carolina Foreign trade Zones # 21 & 38

china
uAE
Mexico
Jordan
Latvia
uAE
uAE
Morocco
Bahrain
uAE
poland
thailand
Bahrain
uAE
Guatemala
uAE
poland
togo
philippines
Lithuania
uAE
croatia
india
Bahrain
South korea
uS

June/July 2010

GLOBAL OutLOOkGLOBAL FREE ZONES OF tHE FutuRE 2010/11

top 10 BESt EcONOMic pOtENtiAL

top 10 BESt cOSt EFFEctiVENESS

RANK NAme of zoNe

couNtRy

RANK NAme of zoNe

couNtRy

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10=
10=

Mexico
thailand
uAE
Bangladesh
Saudia Arabia
thailand
philippines
Jordan
Saudi Arabia
South korea
uAE

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Philippines
togo
Bangladesh...