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H.E. Eng. Ali AlSuwaidi, Director General of Ajman Free Zone holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) in Boston. Throughout his career that spans more than 25 years, he has worked with government departments, economic authorities, and local and international entities, and has held leadership positions across various vital sectors. Having effectively contributed to the overall performance and improvement of work environments within various entities and organizations, here is what he has to say about his work so far and the upcoming initiatives by the Ajman Free Zone (AFZ).
You have prominently established yourself as a successful executive. We would like to know about your very first step in the corporate world.
I can say that it’s something that runs within the family. When you have been raised and taught to value and make a difference in life and the country, it automatically gets ingrained in you. Seeing how hard our leaders have been working for our country has also inspired me to make a difference. If you have the passion and drive to do or achieve something, that is all that is required to lead you to success.
Would you like to talk a bit about your educational background and how does that influence your growth and actions now?
My education has helped me for sure. Studying abroad has given me broader perspectives on how life is and allowed me to experience the different cultures around the world. Working with multicultural people in the same company gives you more exposure, makes you open-minded and changes the way you act and behave. That belief has helped me.
My father has taught me that all you need is to rely on yourself. He always said to me, “Wherever you work, always leave your footprint!” So, it has always stuck with me that whenever I do something, I’ll make it noticeable, I’ll make it perfect; and that’s exactly what I advise my team. People refrain from taking risks, but that is something that defines me. I’m always open to challenges and ready to convert them into opportunities.
What kind of companies do you plan of hosting in AFZ and how do you feel that being in AFZ would be a great choice for them?
I’ve worked in Dubai and Abu Dhabi but I must say, Ajman is a place with a very good business environment with its own unique propositions. As I try to add value, we have come up with different strategies for every sector and type of company available here. The new strategies are focused on how to enhance our roles and be a true business partner. This is why I don’t call the people I work with as clients; I call them business partners. Their business is our business. Our salespeople are solution providers. They see how we can help solve problems regarding the budget of our partners. This is a true partnership! Through understanding each other, we work together and grow and develop the clusters. The clusters comprise three pillars: industry, infrastructure and regulation.
The competition is growing, but there are opportunities all around us. We are always trying to help and support each industry. Whenever we have an opportunity, we always share it with the people and whenever they need help, our door is always open. I’m very happy about the team and our development. The more we encourage them, the more they grow. This is our contribution to the economies of Ajman and the UAE.
I strongly believe that Ajman is now growing, and, while we are facing expansion challenges, we will strive to come up with the best solutions.
AFZ has seen amazing growth in the number of new companies, which is a great thing to exemplify that UAE is back. But we would like to know about the lockdown times at AFZ. What measures did you take and how did you overcome it?
For me, I would say it was both a challenge and an opportunity. AFZ was equipped with the technology to handle the situation, but it wasn’t feasible for all. We tried to see how we could use these measures for business continuity. We had so many challenges with payment and health measures. But our leadership in Ajman has continuously been supportive of the business sector. Many online companies have been able to expand despite trying market conditions.
Across the free zone, amid difficult circumstances, 1,717 new companies from more than 150 countries had set-up their operations in our community in 2020 – which represented a 23 per cent increase from the previous period. Furthermore, 40 new retail stores opened in the Chinese Market in Ajman, registering a four per cent growth. Out of all the companies across sectors, the segment of education providers, including training, educational consulting and liberal professions, was the most active last year with a 26 per cent growth rate compared to 2019. Investments and other activities in the technology sector rose 20 per cent.
We also registered an uptick during the first quarter of 2021. We experienced a 33 per cent surge in the number of newly registered companies engaged in vital sectors during the first three months of this year compared to Q1 2020. The percentage is equivalent to 492 new business organizations. By sector, education, including training academies, counselling and freelancing, witnessed a 39 per cent increase; technology, 23 per cent; and health, 34 per cent.
However difficult the situations may be, we don’t need to panic; we need to remain calm and see how we can contribute to the business. The pandemic has fast-tracked technology development and evolution. We must train ourselves to be our best and make use of these technologies. If we don’t think ahead, someone else will.
What are the new initiatives and opportunities coming from AFZ to boost the incoming wave of entrepreneurship?
In every business, we look at its challenges and see how we can launch the initiative to explore relevant opportunities. In some of the initiatives that we launched, we’ve noticed the local community’s involvement. Firstly, we wanted to introduce Ajman Free Zone and its offered opportunities. Secondly, we wanted to take advice from their experiences and what they would love to see in AFZ. There is a drive and objective towards sustainable development so we have developed certain strategies related to that as part of our initiatives. We want to set the trend for people as well as take available opportunities and bring them here for our partners.
What challenges do you feel is the current SME segment facing and how is AFZ committed towards facilitating them?
At AFZ, 56 per cent of AFZ’s total purchases during the first quarter of this year went to the needs of the SME sector (31%) and other enterprises licensed in the zone (25%). The figures indicate our commitment to help in their expansion coupled with our mission to attract more investments to Ajman and advance the diversification of the national economy.
Please take note, however, that we treat all businesses in AFZ as our partners, and we love to take active participation in the same. Out of the other challenges that we have come across from different genres of businesses, the one that we found quite alarming was the financial issues facing businesses.Hence, we have collaborated with leading banks such as Mashreq and RAK Banks to provide them with exclusive and preferential services. We’re always inclined towards technology, and introducing the best ones to our partners has been one of our constant efforts.
AFZ has taken some prompt measures to move towards sustainable energy sources. Would you like to share some details and statistics about the same?
When we talk about sustainable energy sources, since we are on the consumption side, we have taken measures to reduce water consumption using new technology. Currently, we are the ones in control of how much resources are being used. It is also more important to introduce the new suppliers to the market so that we can make more sustainable policies and deploy relevant technologies. The sustainable development reports will be coming soon, in which we have explained the initiatives. The major challenge is committing even though we have so many countries interested in this project.
How does AFZ facilitate and plan of promoting the creative industries of arts, culture, music, filming and other?
Arts and culture are very important aspects of our lives. I believe that everything we do has an artistic touch to it. We have been targeting certain entrepreneurs who are into arts. I have visited an artist who makes sculptures and faces. We attract these people and cater to their different needs. Currently, there are a variety of cultural art festivals, as such, we’ve introduced these opportunities to the department.
Would you like to comment on the technological infrastructure and AFZ’s involvement in promoting innovation in technology?
AFZ has been investing heavily in technology and strongly believed in the potential of tech and the kind of opportunities that it can bring us. As I mentioned earlier, one of the main pillars of cluster development is infrastructure, and technological infrastructure is extremely important. We are focusing on technology as one of our target sectors. Many services can be developed through it like how robots are being used in restaurants. Today, that attracts a lot of attention. At AFZ, we have rolled out the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) System to automate 44 of our services and reduce the waiting time. The RPA System is designed to help attract global investors to Ajman and advance the emirate’s economic growth and development.
You need to keep track and closely monitor the improvements that can be made using modern technological tools. These tools can be used as a platform to efficiently make the company grow. Technology makes things more efficient and easier. Services can even be accessed through mobile apps. So, this is something we’re investigating and planning to leverage.
A major strength of UAE is its vivid and diversified form of partnerships that it holds both locally and internationally. Would you like to comment on a few of your remarkable business partnerships?
I can’t pick one, I have to praise them all! The reason being that there is an objective behind helping every one of them. There are two bodies: the government and the private sector. Each has its own requirements. This is where we come in. We try to cater to their needs and see what can be done. Our partnerships with them are very important to us, so we enhance the different aspects of our ties with them. We know from the expected footfall that it is a huge opportunity to show our work and achievements and we need to contribute to what the government is doing.
Some of our strategic public and private partners, apart from the previously mentioned RAK and Mashreq Banks, include Ajman Bank, Saudi German Hospital, Emirates Post Group, I-insured company, Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company, the Ministry of Economy, the Economic Development Department- Ajman, Ajman Police, Ajman Chamber, and Digital Government- Ajman, among others.
Do you have any message to our readers?
My message is that Ajman is a very good place. The UAE is a very nice place as well and I think we need to contribute to the environment. It’s more than our duty. It’s our responsibility to this country to feel and live together and figure out how to be supportive of each other.