Dafza and Export Bahrain sign pact allowing companies wider access to markets

Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (Dafza) and Export Bahrain have signed an agreement to support their joint efforts in institutional development, facilitating business activities and supporting companies' expansion plans.

The pact aims to help UAE and Bahrain-based companies to expand and develop joint trade relations, improve co-operation in innovation and entrepreneurship, exchanging expertise and best practices and enable access to technology, markets and business networks, they said in a joint statement on Monday.

The agreement gives Export Bahrain access to the global companies set up at Dafza to support Bahraini exporters in line with a framework established by the agreement.

Dafza will have access to companies supported by Export Bahrain to work towards improving the companies’ relations with their counterparts in Dafza and exchange information, services and offers.

"It facilitates for the companies a network of relations and partnerships, helping them to expand in target markets and access the largest possible client and consumer base," Amna Lootah, assistant director general of Dafza, said.

"This agreement is also the cornerstone of a strategic co-operation that benefits both sides and their short and long-term goals. It serves as a starting point for an active co-operation that strengthens the offers provided by Dafza and Export Bahrain, particularly during the next stage which will witness recovery from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on economic sectors," she said.

The pact is the latest in a series signed by Dafza recently, all of which seek to expand the free zone’s network of partners around the world and its portfolio of services.

The co-operation "permits SME exporters based in Bahrain to capitalise on the supportive facilities offered by Dafza, such as its business-friendly environment, world-class infrastructure, tax exemptions and more, in order to meet their regional and global exporting aspirations," Safa Sharif Abdulkhaliq, Export Bahrain's acting chief executive, said.