Saif-Zone

Sharjah Airport International Free Zone

“Welcome to the freedom of doing business your way.”

Taryam Mattar, Taryam Director General

Globalization is forcing businesses to quest for super-efficiency. It is forcing them to rationalize cost and build customer relationship management (CRM) strategies. Building CRM strategies requires them to be located close to their major markets; thus, Free Zones have come to acquire a place of intensified importance in the global village. Among Free Zones in the Middle East, SAIF-Zone encompasses many advantages and incentives for investing corporations.

The Sharjah Airport International Free Zone – known as the SAIF-Zone – is the fastest growing Airport Free Zone in the region. Since its formation in 1995, the SAIF-Zone has attracted over 1,400 companies from 62 countries, including the United States.

Sharjah and its business community benefit by being the only emirate in the UAE with seaports on both the Arabian Gulf (Port Khalid) and the Indian Ocean (Port Khor Fakkan). Combined with the facilities at Sharjah International Airport, this location provides the SAIF-Zone a unique logistical advantage via superb land, sea and air links.

Built adjacent to the Sharjah International Airport, SAIF-Zone is the location of choice for some of the biggest names in manufacturing, trade, IT ser-vices, media and consumer durables. At the SAIF-Zone, companies have access to over two billion consumers across the GCC, CIS, Asia, parts of Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe.

The SAIF-Zone offers modern premises with state-of-the-art facilities, including air-conditioned, fully furnished offices and also pre-built warehouses in 4 different sizes that come with office space, container parking area, temporary storage space and land for unrestric-ted development. A competitive fee structure, inexpensive energy costs, skilled local workforce, and sponsorship and visas for expatriate staff are just some of the advantages. Free from bureaucratic red tape, the registration process enables licenses to be issued within 24 hours.

Competition among Free Zones continues to grow, with over 2,800 worldwide and over 15 in the UAE alone. Speed and efficiency are the hallmarks of the SAIF-Zone that secure a competitive advantage. Mr. Taryam Mattar Taryam, the Director General, who has an engineering degree from Portland State University, says that his mission is to thrill customers, exceeding their expectations at all times.

SAIF-Zone’s management team, together with other relevant government bodies in Sharjah, are jointly working together by embarking on aggressive marketing campaigns in potentially viable countries around the world, not only to attract premium investment, but also to enhance the technological stature of the country’s business landscape.

After serving as General Manager of the UAE’s telecom provider, ETISALAT, Mr. Taryam joined the SAIF-Zone in the year 2000, and under his leadership the zone has enjoyed a substantial year-on-year growth in the number of companies at the Zone.

“We go to the extreme for customer care; our staff would go the extra mile to help our customers,” Mr. Taryam explains. “I invite American businesses to come here and see for themselves how Sharjah and the SAIF-Zone can be a home away from home.”