RAK FTZ TEAMs TAKE To ThE sTREETs - Ras Al Khaimah Free ...
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<strong>To</strong>urismus Im Aufschwung<br />
Booming <strong>To</strong>urism Destination<br />
Travel Tip Muscat<br />
Karibische Träume am Golf<br />
Caribbean Dreams on the Gulf<br />
Desert Island<br />
Golfen am Golf<br />
Golfing on the Gulf<br />
Die besten Plätze im Nahen Osten<br />
The Best Places in the Middle East<br />
Hotels & Restaurants<br />
Empfehlungen für den Ramadan in den VAE<br />
Recommendations for Ramadan in the UAE<br />
Jetzt gewinnen!<br />
Discover ME Special Raffle<br />
Zehn Jahre „Dubai Summer Surprise“<br />
Ten Years of “Dubai Summer Surprise”<br />
Das Shoppingfestival im Jubiläumsjahr<br />
Numerous highlights during its 10 th Anniversary<br />
A �ousand<br />
and One<br />
Nights<br />
Traumhaftes Wochenende im Danat Resort in Jebel Dhanna<br />
Win a Luxurious Weekend at Danat Resort in Jebel Dhanna<br />
Dubai-Hamburg Business Forum 2007<br />
Erste gemeinsame Wirtschaftskonferenz in Dubai<br />
First Joint Economics Conference in Dubai<br />
Tausendundeine Tausendundeine Nacht Nacht<br />
No. 6 SEPTEMBER · OKTOBER 2007 SEPTEMBER · OCTOBER<br />
Dubais junge Elite<br />
Dubai’s Young Elite<br />
Cover_0507_01.indd Cover_0507_01.indd 13 22.08.2007 22.08.2007 3:11:50 3:12:06 Uhr Uhr<br />
September · October 2007 Dubais junge Elite Dubai‘s Young Elite<br />
Scheich Hamdan auf dem Weg an die Spitze<br />
Sheikh Hamdan on the Way to the <strong>To</strong>p<br />
r a k f r e e t r a d e z o n e b i - m o n t h ly n e w s l e t t e r MAR/APR 2010 NO4<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> Half Marathon<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> <strong>TEAMs</strong><br />
<strong>TAKE</strong> <strong>To</strong> <strong>ThE</strong> <strong>sTREETs</strong><br />
results and photos inside<br />
Macom International | 4 <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> 2009 Results | 6<br />
Tracking the Emirates | 18 Desert Protection Campaign | 20<br />
www.rakftz.com
Issue: Mar / Apr 2010, No 4<br />
Designed and produced on behalf of <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong><br />
<strong>Free</strong> Trade Zone Authority Government of <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong><br />
<strong>Khaimah</strong>, P.O. Box 10055, <strong>RAK</strong>, UAE<br />
oussama el omari<br />
CEO and Director General<br />
maryam al murshedi al shehi<br />
Deputy Director General<br />
Editorial Team<br />
Cleo Eleazar<br />
Reuben Keeling<br />
Kjellyn Peterson<br />
Rebecka Korn<br />
Contributors<br />
Johnson Modayil<br />
Jas Sekhon<br />
Luca Gorlero<br />
Marketing<br />
Marwa Ibrahim<br />
Aaesha Suwaid<br />
Design and Production<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Creative Section<br />
Shant Tengerian<br />
Kim Marc Krüger<br />
Wassim Swaidan<br />
free spirit<br />
Newsletter<br />
Administrative Support<br />
Asma Hamad Fares<br />
Aamna <strong>Al</strong> Dehhi<br />
Send your comments about <strong>Free</strong> Spirit to newsletter@rakftz.com<br />
<strong>Al</strong>l rights reserved. For private circulation only. The options and views expressed in<br />
this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are requested<br />
to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication,<br />
which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the reader’s particular<br />
circumstances. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy and correctness. The<br />
publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for any error or omissions contained<br />
in this publication.<br />
Contents<br />
CEO’s Welcome<br />
In Focus<br />
Macom Intl. Page 4 GianLuca Page 16 Banyan Tree Page 27<br />
Zoning In<br />
Money Matters<br />
Trade Zone<br />
Life Designer<br />
Art and Culture<br />
Partner News<br />
Environment<br />
Special Feature<br />
Cover Story<br />
In the News<br />
Beyond the Zone<br />
Happenings<br />
Exploring <strong>RAK</strong><br />
<strong>RAK</strong> International Offices<br />
Calendar<br />
3<br />
4<br />
6<br />
9<br />
11<br />
13<br />
15<br />
19<br />
20<br />
21<br />
23<br />
25<br />
27<br />
30<br />
31<br />
33<br />
37<br />
2
3<br />
CEO’s Welcome Note<br />
According to an old proverb, ‘No matter how long the Winter,<br />
Spring is sure to follow.’ And we surely have had a great<br />
Spring so far – the weather is heavenly, allowing us to enjoy<br />
more outdoor activities. This season is undeniably the ideal<br />
time to explore; so if you feel like it, go ahead and jump to<br />
‘Exploring <strong>RAK</strong>’, where we will introduce you to the delights<br />
of Sheba’s Palace. If you’re looking for a relaxed weekend<br />
getaway, check out ‘Beyond the Zone’, which features the<br />
new Banyan Tree <strong>Al</strong> Wadih Hotel, and discover the new<br />
adventure-filled <strong>RAK</strong> Waterpark.<br />
Oussama El Omari<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> CEO<br />
Oussama El Omari (<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> CEO)<br />
Taking a quantum leap from literal meanings, we know how hard 2009 has been, but that<br />
winter is over as well. Every day, we see fresh growth and new buds slowly replacing last year’s<br />
bleak and barren financial landscape. These new beginnings hold promise and inspire a<br />
fresh hope that will fuel our enthusiasm to reach new heights.<br />
As you may have noticed, <strong>Free</strong> Spirit, your monthly guide to <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>, is growing. Launched<br />
last year in October with only 26 pages, it has now expanded to 40 pages with the addition<br />
of substantial editorial content, including Arts and Culture, <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> International Offices<br />
and Special Features. In <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> International Offices, we will introduce you to our staff<br />
and bring you the news from our offices abroad, including new services and events.<br />
We also bring you the real life experience of Dave Crane. His insightful and witty survival<br />
guide for entrepreneurs is a welcome addition to our features this month. A well-known<br />
personality in the UAE, Dave is a top motivational speaker, a certified hypnotherapist, NLP<br />
master practitioner, and a life designer, who will share with us his unique insights about<br />
going into business within the United Arab Emirates.<br />
In the field of Arts, we delve into the origins and development of musical forms, and<br />
one musician’s wonderful discovery that the influence of Arabic musical traditions, on<br />
international music, is much more than he realised. On another note, we have a treat<br />
in store for all our Arabic readers; starting in our May/June issue, we will include Arabic<br />
pages, for your reading pleasure.<br />
Having started with the glorious weather that we have right now, let me finish with an<br />
activity that will allow us to enjoy it and, at the same time, contribute to a better society.<br />
This year, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr <strong>Al</strong> Qassimi, Crown<br />
Prince and Deputy Ruler of <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>, the emirate will host its very first Terry Fox<br />
Run to help fund cancer research. The run will be held on Friday, March 5, 2010 and will<br />
be held annually from here on. We invite you all to take your running shoes out and join<br />
us for this worthwhile cause.<br />
The times are changing, and at every turn, new opportunities open up. Don’t let these chances<br />
pass you by - let <strong>Free</strong> Spirit be your guide. We hope to see you at the numerous activities we<br />
have lined up for the next two months, especially our 10-year anniversary celebrations; and<br />
remember, we are all free spirits in this great and wonderful world.<br />
macom international -<br />
The Audio-Visual Specialists<br />
The room is packed. <strong>Al</strong>l your current and prospective clients are sitting<br />
patiently, waiting for the program to begin. You will start with an<br />
amazing audio-visual production (AVP) that encapsulates the values,<br />
philosophies and services of your company. But you know that there’s a<br />
slight risk in this gambit – some executive may come in late and sit at the<br />
back, where he will not hear or see the AVP properly. He’s a busy man<br />
and does not have the time or the patience to crane and strain to hear<br />
about your services.<br />
What happens next? You lose his interest and his business. It’s an<br />
embarrassing situation, which does not have to happen and a challenge<br />
that is entirely avoidable. Think about it, you don’t want to spend good<br />
money on an AVP only to be ignored by a roomful of prospective clients<br />
because the audio was not loud enough or the screen not big enough.<br />
The answer is to find an AV specialist who will ensure that everything<br />
runs smoothly; a specialist of the calibre of macom international<br />
communications consulting engineers. They not only provide the knowhow<br />
and technical details for the AV solutions but they also offer AV<br />
productions tailored to your needs, whether it’s for conference rooms,<br />
video conferences, ballrooms, business centres, hotels, shopping malls,<br />
museums, galleries, convention halls, universities or wellness and spa<br />
facilities.<br />
a feather in the cap<br />
The good news is that you don’t have to travel all the way to Germany to<br />
avail their services. macom international recently registered with the <strong>Ras</strong><br />
<strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> <strong>Free</strong> Trade Zone (<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>) and will base their Middle East<br />
headquarters at the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Twin <strong>To</strong>wers Business Centre in Dubai. They<br />
celebrated the launch of their regional office in the Middle East at the<br />
Grand Hyatt Dubai on 24 January.<br />
This certainly deserves celebration. macom international brings innovative<br />
audio visual concepts into our fold. Now, their unique and practical<br />
services are easily accessible to the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> network, as well as to other<br />
companies, within the UAE and the rest of the Gulf States.<br />
macom international believes that every success begins with<br />
communication. Rightly so, as seasoned businessmen can attest to the<br />
power of a face-to-face meeting, the right message a firm handshake<br />
brings, and the advantages of an AVP that is shot, directed and shown<br />
with extreme professionalism.<br />
IN FOCUS<br />
It’s a business fact that corporate communication expresses the identity of<br />
a company, highlights its distinguishing features, and creates an entirely<br />
unique image. It needs to be tailor-made to each organisation’s individual<br />
and highly-diverse concepts and requirements, and just as importantly,<br />
these communication processes need to run as efficiently as possible to be<br />
able to ensure their positive contribution to the success of the company.<br />
When it comes to communication, macom international analyses, advises,<br />
optimises, designs and creates AVPs according to each client’s individual<br />
needs.<br />
the navigator<br />
At the helm of this forward-thinking company is AV specialist, Norbert<br />
Hönig, Managing Director of macom international, who has been in the AV<br />
industry since 1976. After his first 10 years in the industry, Hönig started<br />
his own media plan company, which later went on to become a part of the<br />
macom Group, Germany’s leading AV consultancy. The company has since<br />
built up its reputation as the first choice for modern and user-oriented,<br />
audio-visual communication solutions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland<br />
and now, the Middle East. They list Ernst & Young, Porsche, Deutsche<br />
Bank, Accenture, IBM, BMW, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, InterContinental<br />
Hotels Group, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, among their high-profile<br />
clientele.<br />
Norbert Hönig, Managing<br />
Director of macom international<br />
4
IN FOCUS ZONING IN<br />
With the steady popularity of AV productions (complete AV solutions) –<br />
macom international rises up to the challenges of the current market. In<br />
his 30 years of AV production (design and consultancy) experience, Hönig<br />
easily admits that clients now are more demanding – they know what<br />
they want and are not afraid to ask for it.<br />
“They educate themselves and are aware of the latest trends and<br />
possibilities in the AV sector. Expectations are very high and clients take<br />
it seriously now that AV consultants are able to provide complete, high<br />
-standard, service packages to realise their visions. Since we are offering<br />
manufacturer independent consulting services, we have the freedom to<br />
provide our clients with the best possible solution, no matter if we are<br />
talking about a small or a large budget,” he shares in an interview with<br />
Men & Architecture magazine.<br />
“Our own expertise and our neutral consulting service put us in a<br />
unique position within the AV industry. We are not committed to certain<br />
manufacturers; we select the products based on the performance and<br />
quality that best fit into our client’s project and budget. We also particularly<br />
focus on close collaboration with architects and interior designers during<br />
the whole time of a project. Therefore, costly readjustments belong to the<br />
past – that saves our clients precious time and money,” he adds.<br />
With over 45 of the highest rated engineers and consultants in the<br />
German AV market, macom international assures its clients that they will<br />
receive premium AV consulting and planning services. In short, macom<br />
provides the best service that you can get to meet your specific AVP needs.<br />
“The diversity of our AV specialists is very impressive: audiovisual and<br />
system engineers, IT and telecommunications specialists, CAD and graphic<br />
designers, communication designers, marketing and business consultants<br />
– and all of them under one roof.<br />
MACOM INTERNATIONAL SERVICES<br />
• Intelligent Network Infrastructure<br />
• Conference and Meeting Rooms<br />
• Video Conferencing Solutions<br />
• AV Standards<br />
• Acoustic Services<br />
• Video Surveillance<br />
• AV-Management Technology Green Building<br />
• Digital Signage Indoor Outdoor Façade<br />
• Guidance Room/<strong>Al</strong>location Systems<br />
• Education<br />
Another unique feature is the intelligent combination of AV<br />
communications and marketing communications. macom provides the<br />
necessary AV technology and the right content,” Hönig explains.<br />
middle east market<br />
From as early as 1997, Hönig has been travelling between Europe and<br />
the Middle East to work on AV projects with different establishments,<br />
such as luxury hotels and spa facilities, and counts the Grand Hyatt Hotel<br />
Dubai as one of macom’s premiere clients. The company’s teams are also<br />
currently working on a number of projects in Doha. The steady increase<br />
in the number of Middle East customers drew their attention to the<br />
growing demand in the region, hence their decision to open a regional<br />
headquarters at the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>.<br />
“We want to establish the office with the infrastructure in Dubai, finish<br />
our current projects, and for sure, close a few new deals,” he expounds.<br />
With further plans to open additional offices in Abu Dhabi and then Qatar<br />
in the future, it quite obvious that Hönig sees big potential in the Middle<br />
East market, but it is, by no means, the final destination. macom is also<br />
currently monitoring the rest of Asia, especially with enquiries from the<br />
sector.<br />
For now, however, they are settling down in their new offices and directly<br />
tackling the challenges this market presents. It is a challenge that Hönig<br />
and his team address with pleasure – as they gear up to satisfy their<br />
regional clients and add a notch or two to their creative belts.<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Grows Revenue in 2009<br />
with 11 per cent Increase<br />
In the face of 2009’s financial adversity, <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> <strong>Free</strong> Trade Zone forged on and emerged<br />
ahead of its game, joining the ranks of top-performing free zones around the world in rebuilding<br />
confidence in the world economy.<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> kept its eye on the ball, and as a reward, it was able to<br />
accomplish more than it set out to do. From the time <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> was first<br />
established, in 2000, it has enjoyed a steady increase in new company<br />
registrations. This was made clear in the 2009 reports reflecting a total of<br />
1,935 new company registrations, a 10 per cent increase since 2008. It<br />
also recorded growth in revenue, with an 11 per cent increase compared<br />
to 2008 figures.<br />
India led the way, with 37 per cent new companies registered, followed<br />
by the UK, with 12 per cent. In the Middle East, Egypt tops the list of new<br />
registrations, with 6 per cent. The companies that are doing business in<br />
the free zone are broken down into the following sectors: 64 per cent<br />
trading companies with warehousing facilities, 26 per cent consulting and<br />
services, 3 per cent industrial, and 7 per cent general trading.<br />
<strong>To</strong>pping the list of <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>’s new registrations are: Ueims School of<br />
Medicine & Dentistry FZE, London American City College FZC, Dolphin<br />
International FZC (<strong>RAK</strong> Duty <strong>Free</strong>), Uniglobe General Trading FZE, B.L.P.F<br />
Protection FZE, Ballistic Solutions Emirates FZE, Capdec Paints FZC, Middle<br />
East Spark Trading FZE, and Max Marine FZC.<br />
“We knew the financial reality we were facing, therefore, it was crucial<br />
that we strategised based on that reality. We drew and implemented<br />
action plans that saw us through the crisis,” comments Oussama El<br />
Omari, <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> CEO.<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> CEO<br />
Oussama El Omari<br />
5 6
ZONING IN<br />
He adds, “We needed to help rebuild the economy, and we could only<br />
do that by attracting new businesses and investment to the UAE. <strong>To</strong> do<br />
that, we had to be visible, both locally and internationally, and we had<br />
to be the best in our product sector. <strong>Al</strong>so, we needed to widen our scope.<br />
One of our main focuses now is to support small and medium enterprises<br />
(SMEs) – a blooming SME industry is one of the most vital signs of a<br />
flourishing economy.”<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>’s dedicated efforts to reach new markets – involving up to a total<br />
of 158 activities for the year alone – have produced this positive result.<br />
These activities included participation in conventions and trade fairs, road<br />
shows and advertising. Road shows were held in key markets like Jordan,<br />
Syria, India, Lebanon, Pakistan and Egypt and oriented local businessmen<br />
about the free zone’s products and services.<br />
Special offers, such as discounted rates on Standard Offices, the easiest<br />
way to enter the Middle East market, were promoted not only among<br />
road show visitors but also within local media and business associations.<br />
Within the last four years, this information dissemination and continuous<br />
education about <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> products and services has proven effective in<br />
increasing <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>’s worldwide reach. It proved to be most prolific from<br />
2006, with 2,768 companies, to 2007, with a jump to 4,309 new registrations<br />
,and between 2007 and 2008, when a 12 per cent increase was recorded.<br />
Strengthening its core and focusing on meeting and going beyond the<br />
needs and expectations of existing and future clients, <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> has built<br />
up an unparalleled network – of partners, clients and suppliers – which<br />
they actively nurse with camaraderie-building activities, such as the <strong>RAK</strong><br />
<strong>FTZ</strong> Golf & Networking Day, held every November, to promote friendship,<br />
open communication and a steady exchange of ideas among its members.<br />
As part of its objective to strengthen its brand, <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> also launched a<br />
number of value-added services in 2009, such as the dedicated German<br />
desk. Manned by German-speaking personnel, the desk aids clients<br />
from Germany, one of <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>’s key markets, with everything from visa<br />
processing to setting-up their offices at the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Business Centre.<br />
UK 7%<br />
India 33%<br />
Egypt 6%<br />
Revenue by Country 2009<br />
Pakistan 5% Germany 3%<br />
Other 37%<br />
Russia 2%<br />
Turkey 2%<br />
France 2%<br />
USA 3%<br />
Underlining <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>’s commitment to the environment, it also held<br />
industry-leading meetings during the year, to educate its clients about the<br />
much-awaited Environmental Performance Card, and in the last quarter<br />
of 2009, it sponsored the second Desert Protection Campaign to help<br />
preserve the UAE’s pristine desert environments.<br />
In October, <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> launched ‘<strong>Free</strong> Spirit’, the bi-monthly newsletter that<br />
serves as its stakeholders’ guide to everything that is new and important<br />
for their business and personal lives. From 26 pages, the newsletter<br />
quickly grew to 40 pages tackling a variety of topics, from the newest<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> member to the best tourist spot in town.<br />
The year 2009 also saw the efforts of <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> recognised and awarded<br />
by a number of award-giving bodies. Starting early in the year, <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong><br />
received four prizes in four categories at the Sheikh Saqr Programme for<br />
Government Excellence, namely ‘Distinguished Governmental Department<br />
of the Year 2008’, ‘Mystery Shopper’, ‘Distinguished Organised Unit for<br />
2008’ and ‘Applying Standards – Processes’.<br />
Later on, it was voted the ‘Best Emerging <strong>Free</strong> Zone’ by the Middle East<br />
Logistics Awards (MELA) for the third consecutive year, and was also<br />
named ‘Industrial Area of the Year’ by the Supply Chain and Transport<br />
Awards (SCATA).<br />
Furthermore, its evolving website, which provides comprehensive<br />
business information, as well as an interactive experience for current and<br />
prospective clients, was recognised as the ‘Best Website’ at the 9th World<br />
<strong>Free</strong> Zone Convention (WFZC).<br />
These distinctions are the result of <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>’s commitment to become the<br />
preferred business hub of the Middle East, distinctions that mark the path<br />
for the free zone’s historic 10-year anniversary, which will be observed on<br />
6 May 2010, not only with fanfare but also a review of its performance<br />
within the last 10 years and a renewed dedication to continue to improve<br />
in all aspects of its everyday processes.<br />
“We are committed to doing everything we can to contribute to the<br />
generation of new jobs, the growth of our economy and the preservation<br />
of our environment,” El Omari shares. “This year, as we celebrate our<br />
10th anniversary, we reflect on the time that has passed and plan for the<br />
future. It is another era that we are entering, and we look forward to it<br />
with much excitement.”<br />
ZONING IN<br />
2010 holds a lot of promise for <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>. The free zone plans to<br />
strengthen its positioning as a business hub geared at helping SMEs<br />
connect to emerging market economies, target new key markets such as<br />
Turkey, Russia, South Africa and the USA, launch Mazeed Services, and<br />
continue to improve its products and services. With a target to increase<br />
registrations by 15 per cent by the end of the year, with approximately<br />
2250 additional companies, this year, the free zone will further prove that<br />
it is, indeed, what its slogan states – The Home of Business.<br />
The new BC4 building at<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Business Park<br />
7 8
MONEY MATTERS MONEY MATTERS<br />
Death, Taxes,<br />
Confidentiality and<br />
Asset Protection<br />
Recent and dramatic global changes necessitate your immediate<br />
review of any outmoded structures!<br />
No doubt, one reads of the changed world after the global financial<br />
crash with some feeling that the worst is behind us. Unless you are a<br />
banker seeking your historical bonus rights, macro-economic policy seems<br />
to have little to do with you, the average citizen or business person.<br />
Ignorance may not be bliss.<br />
Very simply put, the world – post financial crash – has dramatically<br />
changed the rules, and you, in ignorance of the new landscape, may be<br />
asked to foot the bill for all the government funding that has gone into<br />
propping up banks and economies in the major developed countries.<br />
<strong>To</strong> remain a free spirit, you must now play with a different set of rules.<br />
What you could do in the past is no longer viable. No need to feel<br />
disheartened; your professional advisers, on the whole, are at a loss as<br />
well. In terms of confidentiality and tax and asset protection, the world<br />
was a different place prior to the crash. Swiss banking secrecy, coupled<br />
with a simple offshore company was the norm, with advisers, in many<br />
cases, simply peddling a standard and outmoded package to resolve all<br />
issues for clients. Country GDP’s were growing and economies booming –<br />
the issue of increasing fiscal collections was not critical.<br />
Death taxes, confidentiality and asset protection are now serious financial<br />
issues, and at best, you need to reconsider what you have and, ideally,<br />
recast your structures; otherwise, you will pay more tax; you will lose more<br />
assets on death; and you will not have any defence as, for the most part,<br />
banking secrecy is all but dead.<br />
Your worldly private banker or your friendly family accountant or lawyer<br />
may not be your allies during this period of introspection. Tread carefully<br />
– the consequences may not be a rap on the knuckles; tax evasion is now<br />
a serious crime.<br />
By: Jas Sekhon<br />
Your advisor may also have a positive duty to report you where<br />
money laundering is suspected (which in some countries now<br />
extends to tax avoidance).<br />
And the situation is likely to get worse – the only way that governments,<br />
which have indulged and gloated in stimulus packages to bail out<br />
economies, can easily recover funding, is through taxation. Never stand in<br />
the way of a bankrupt government seeking to collect more taxes – unless<br />
you are prepared to play a new game with a different set of rules to those<br />
that existed before, albeit less than two short years ago.<br />
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)<br />
at the behest of the G20 has forced the so called “level playing” field<br />
and there are no easy escape hatches left. A white/grey/black list was<br />
announced last April, and since that time, there have been three revisions<br />
to the list, as countries scramble to enter into many hundreds of tax and<br />
banking information exchange agreements.<br />
Since the beginning of 2008, international tax evasion and the<br />
implementation of high standards of transparency and exchange of<br />
information have been very high on the political agenda, reflecting recent<br />
scandals that have affected countries around the world and the spotlight<br />
that the global financial crisis has put on financial centres generally.<br />
Tax transparency was a key feature of the G20 Summits in Washington,<br />
London and Pittsburgh. Take the following statements:<br />
“We agree to take action against non-cooperative jurisdictions, including<br />
tax havens. We stand ready to deploy sanctions to protect our public<br />
finances and financial systems. The era of banking secrecy is over.”<br />
- G20 Leaders’ Statement, London, UK, April 2009<br />
“We are committed to maintain the momentum in dealing with tax<br />
havens…We stand ready to use countermeasures against tax havens<br />
from March 2010.”<br />
- G20 Leaders’ Statement, Pittsburgh, USA, September 2009<br />
“<strong>Al</strong>l jurisdictions must now quickly implement their commitments.<br />
We cannot continue to tolerate large amounts of capital hidden to<br />
evade taxation.”<br />
- G-8 Declaration, L’Aquila, Italy, July 2009<br />
After giving many presentations in Europe last year and particularly in<br />
Switzerland, I found the calm mood of the expert lawyer, accountant<br />
or fiduciary almost alarming. “No it’s not that bad – a mini tsunami –<br />
it will pass and things will be back to normal” was a common view.<br />
Unfortunately, the politicians do not share the same view. The United<br />
States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Australia, China,<br />
France, India and so on have all agreed that increased tax collection is<br />
the easy way to claw back their deficits. My fear is that the worst in that<br />
respect is, almost certainly, yet to come.<br />
The immediate need is for you to re-examine your old structures and<br />
consider alternatives. Seek advice – but your advisor may have been selling<br />
BVI and Mauritius for the last countless years and may possess too much<br />
of a vested interest or a duty (in some cases) to inform the authorities,<br />
coupled with a lack of alternatives, to be impartial or forthright.<br />
One such alternative is to look carefully at the benefits of the UAE tax<br />
treaties and the combination of a <strong>RAK</strong> International and <strong>Free</strong> Zone<br />
company as a possible restructure.<br />
The UAE has over 47 tax treaties with other countries, and importantly,<br />
the UAE is the only country always on the OCED white list with a zero rate<br />
of individual or corporate taxation. Other jurisdictions, such as the BVI,<br />
Cayman, Bahamas and the like, cannot enter into a tax treaty – but must<br />
enter into a TIEA (Tax Information Exchange Agreement). TIEA’s provide<br />
only for a mechanism for information exchange, whilst tax treaties provide<br />
for reduced taxation in the home country and a well understood formal<br />
process for the exchange of information, in the right circumstances.<br />
For example, the OECD commentary to the DTA’s clearly states that no<br />
information needs to be provided by the UAE where the other country is<br />
entering into a “fishing expedition.”<br />
Where the old OECD exchange of information article exists, as it does,<br />
remarkably, in most of the UAE treaties, investors in UAE entities can<br />
take great comfort from the fact that no information that is not locally<br />
required will be provided to foreign treaty partners. Many countries,<br />
such as Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria, and so on, have been forced<br />
to accept the new, and much broader, OECD articles in their treaties<br />
providing almost unrestricted exchange of information.<br />
rak premium product – combining the rak iC and ftz entity<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> entities may clearly benefit from the DTA’s that exist in the UAE, and<br />
indeed, <strong>RAK</strong> (and the Ministry of Finance) will provide, on application,<br />
a certificate of tax residency, which is conclusive proof to the foreign<br />
government treaty partner that the terms of the treaty will apply to a<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> entity.<br />
However, in certain cases, the treaties will look for the substance of your<br />
activities. Therefore, the <strong>RAK</strong> Premium product allows for a <strong>RAK</strong>-IC to own<br />
100% the shares of the FZE to provide confidentiality and flexibility, with<br />
the FZE providing the operational substance.<br />
Some of the key advantages of the Premium product are summarised as<br />
follows:<br />
1. Complete substance in terms of visas and employees;<br />
2. Complete substance in terms of licences to trade/consult;<br />
3. Complete Substance in terms of physical offices/warehouse/<br />
industrial space;<br />
4. Absolute confidentiality in terms of ownership;<br />
5. Absolute confidentiality in terms of no audit report for the <strong>RAK</strong> IC;<br />
6. Absolute confidentiality in terms of the ownership of the FZE<br />
and <strong>RAK</strong> IC;<br />
7. Absolute flexibility in terms of choice of foreign (non UAE) law<br />
for the <strong>RAK</strong> IC;<br />
8. Absolute flexibility in terms of structuring licence, royalty and<br />
other arrangements between the <strong>RAK</strong>-IC and the FZE;<br />
9. Tax residence certificates for the <strong>RAK</strong> IC and FZE; and<br />
10. Migration out of the <strong>RAK</strong>-IC holding company, should political<br />
circumstances change.<br />
As always, these matters may be complex in the new world order, and<br />
advice appropriate to your individual circumstances must be obtained.<br />
Nonetheless, <strong>RAK</strong> is unique in offering a premium solution as an<br />
onshore global financial centre.<br />
The Premium product is a responsive addition to the services available<br />
to our clients. Substantive solutions must now involve, as a minimum,<br />
a true commercial reality and robust solutions - as opposed to exotic<br />
dreams of tropical island company registries and tropical island bank<br />
accounts or ill-conceived low budget onshore places for business.<br />
9 10
TRADE ZONE TRADE ZONE<br />
Emerging Markets -<br />
The Economic Panacea<br />
Lately, emerging markets have been making headlines globally.<br />
The global recovery is being led by emerging economies, and this is<br />
a fundamental fact bound to stay.<br />
We receive an average of 3-4 business delegations a month here in<br />
<strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>. These delegations come from all corners of the<br />
world, since our free zone has investors from 120 different countries.<br />
While delegations of businessmen may not be statistically viable samples<br />
to determine the trends in a specific country, they do provide, nonetheless,<br />
a good viewpoint from which to develop a perspective about so many<br />
different economies. Over time, over many delegations, consistent trends<br />
tend to set in.<br />
I was, therefore, very happy in February, when HSBC published the results<br />
of the its most recent research on SME Confidence (20 markets were<br />
surveyed) based on primary data gathered last October and November<br />
2009.<br />
These results are the statistical confirmation of the trends I have been<br />
collecting over the past year: not only are emerging markets leading the<br />
economic recovery, but SMEs are going to play a principal role.<br />
The report also confirmed a wide differential in confidence levels between<br />
the so-called highly industrialised economies (G7++) and the emerging<br />
markets. Emerging markets are significantly more confident than<br />
developed markets. With an index of 100 as neutral, emerging markets<br />
have scored an aggregate of 121 and developed markets an aggregate of<br />
106 (France registers below 100 at 96).<br />
Nicholas Levitt, Regional Head of Business Banking at HSBC said:<br />
“Confidence levels appear to be back to pre-financial crisis level. The<br />
Middle East outlook correlates strongly to the global emerging market<br />
outlook, and as a major international trading hub, the region is wellplaced<br />
for future growth.”<br />
By: Luca Gorlero<br />
From the survey, we learn that the Middle East is the second most<br />
optimistic area after India. I can relate to this finding personally, since<br />
I receive one or two business delegations from India every month.<br />
During my presentation on emerging markets, I always ask them: “How<br />
is business during these challenging times?” Invariably, the feedback I<br />
receive, regarding the impact of the crisis, goes from mild to negligible.<br />
In the Middle East, the SME survey confirms:<br />
• 47 per cent plans to increase capital expenditures<br />
• 47 per cent plans to increase capital expenditures<br />
• 41 per cent is committed to current levels of capital expense<br />
• 11 per cent is planning capital expense reductions<br />
• 36 per cent intends to increase staffing<br />
• 58 per cent will keep the same staffing levels<br />
SMEs were also asked about their propensity to engage more in<br />
international business, and the survey has confirmed the role of the<br />
Middle East as an international trading hub.<br />
• 72 per cent of the SMEs in Qatar planned to grow their business<br />
internationally within the next 2 years<br />
• 28 per cent in Egypt<br />
• 19 per cent in Saudi Arabia<br />
The top international locations for business for the Middle East are China,<br />
South East Asia and Europe.<br />
While this research presents gaps in its approach to defining the<br />
geographical footprint, it highlights something that is at the core of the<br />
global economic shift currently underway.<br />
In order to validate the aspirations for internationalisation of many<br />
SMEs, both in the Middle East and other emerging markets, it is<br />
necessary for local governments to support the development of a solid<br />
and more sophisticated banking system, specifically tailored to support<br />
trade and investment.<br />
As Dr. Butcha, Vice President and Managing Director at A.T. Kearney Middle<br />
East, said in a recent article “A.T. Kearney has worked with governments<br />
across the world to improve the SME sector. SMEs are the backbone of<br />
any successful and sustainable economy; they are the blood cells behind<br />
successfully diversified economies and large corporations. Successful long<br />
term economic growth plans for the GCC can only succeed with strong<br />
support to SMEs...”<br />
A.T. Kearney research in emerging markets shows that successful SMEs<br />
create jobs at a rate that is four times faster than larger corporations, and<br />
they create revenue and GDP at a rate that is six times faster than large<br />
corporations. This is largely due to the fact that successful SMEs tend to<br />
grow more exponentially than large blue chip and established businesses<br />
(more at: www.eyeofdubai.com/v1/news/newsdetail-38845.htm).<br />
It is because of the essential role of SMEs in the global economy that<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> has been creating a business environment specifically designed<br />
to facilitate SME business. The newly-created valued added services for<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> clients are focused on reducing the “incubation” period of new<br />
companies and putting them in the condition to generate successful<br />
business in the region in the fastest and most cost effective way.<br />
Note: the survey did not include the United Arab Emirates in the emerging markets,<br />
developed markets surveyed included only US, Canada, UK, France, results in<br />
confidence in the developed economies would have been slightly different if Spain,<br />
Greece, Italy had been included.<br />
11 12
LIFE DESIGNER LIFE DESIGNER<br />
The Entrepreneurs Survival Guide<br />
Hi. I’m Dave Crane, and I run a very small business. In fact, the business<br />
is me (http://www.theworldsbestmc.com).<br />
I am the CEO of my own life. If I want a holiday, I have to pay for it, if I<br />
want health care, I have to source it, and if I don’t get instant success, who<br />
gets the 100 per cent blame for the results? Me. I wouldn’t want it any<br />
other way. I feel great every single day.<br />
Before, when I had a salaried ‘job’ at the BBC, it was actually true then<br />
too. But I didn’t know. I felt I had to jump through someone else’s hoop to<br />
get paid a limited salary, and they could make my life hell, depending on<br />
what side of the bed they woke up.<br />
I’ve found a better way. It’s called Life Design (find out more at<br />
http://ww.thelifedesignacademy.com ). Time to get rich…<br />
Here are ten incredible rules for success, which I have learned both hard<br />
and easy ways. Why should I have anything to share? Well, I am a market<br />
leader in my industry, and my work has reached over two billion people<br />
over the last few years. That’s why. I hope that my tips give you as much<br />
of a business advantage as I have enjoyed and will take your business into<br />
the stratosphere where it belongs.<br />
In the next few minutes, I am going to share with you some essential<br />
secrets of starting up that may enable you to make your first million. If you<br />
are already up and running but are losing sleep thinking too much, here<br />
are also a few of those answers you’ve been after.<br />
1. Politics and paperwork. Congratulations on starting your own<br />
business. Shame that the powers that be will do everything in their<br />
limited power to suck the enthusiasm out of you, with categories,<br />
queues and questions. Let them try. Remember if the person giving<br />
you a hard time had the ability or vision to be doing what you are<br />
doing, they wouldn’t be working where they are now. If it takes<br />
forever to get going, just start straight away and let their red tape<br />
and form-filling catch up with you. Do you remember the last time<br />
you sat down for an appraisal with a pin-headed manager who had<br />
no idea what he was talking about? The same guys now have to get<br />
you to fill in application forms. They were wrong about you then, and<br />
they still are now. Thankfully, I haven’t had one of them for about<br />
10 years. This doesn’t mean I’m blinkered. I just know that it only<br />
takes one client to say yes, before I have a successful business on<br />
my hands. There is a tipping point so keep pushing until it does, and<br />
‘yes’ it is alright to do stuff in your own time. Remember, you are the<br />
client. Permission pre-approved.<br />
Dave Crane<br />
2. Stop asking for permission. If you need approval for everything, start<br />
looking for a job in a multi-national company with a 9:00-5:00 pm<br />
working day. Revolutionaries never ask for permission. Madonna,<br />
Elvis, JFK, Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, never did, so why<br />
should you? Remember, if things mess up, you can always apologise<br />
later and say you didn’t know. After all, for whom do you work?<br />
3. Know for whom you work. Is it your partner, your family, yourself?<br />
Maybe all of the above, and that’s why you get out of bed every<br />
morning. Remember this whenever anybody tries to claim that you<br />
are their little puppy and asks you to roll over or sit up and beg. You<br />
don’t work for them. Period. My advice is walk away as soon as you<br />
can. You don’t work for them. The right people will find you when you<br />
are ready. Or at least, you will find them when you know what you<br />
are looking for. Until then, just find like-minded people or a coach.<br />
4. Get a coach/mentor/partner/network. Even coaches have coaches.<br />
If you can’t afford a coach, get into a mastermind partnership (one<br />
person) or a group of people who meet regularly to ‘coach’ each other.<br />
It is best to choose someone who isn’t too close but whom you can trust<br />
and who can play Devil’s advocate, without it affecting your social life.<br />
The mastermind partnership gives you a chance to create a board<br />
of governors with only goodwill keeping you together. With the<br />
right person, this can become an invaluable source of insight and<br />
strategy in equal amounts. I have actually gone one step further and<br />
joined BNI (Business Networking International). 30 decision makers<br />
meet every Monday morning, and after the 90 minute referral based<br />
session, we swap qualified leads for doing future business. Don’t be<br />
scared to find out what people really think of you. It’s all good news,<br />
even if you find out they are not taking you seriously, you have a<br />
chance for a bigger learning curve before you come back under the<br />
radar. <strong>Al</strong>ternatively, if they are worried about you, you must be doing<br />
something right.<br />
5. Draw a line from A-B. If A is where you are now and B is where<br />
you want to be after everything works out right, plot that path.<br />
Then head along the shortest possible route and ignore all the<br />
sidetracking disturbances which will attempt to hijack your triumph.<br />
One of my friends runs a chauffeur-driven car hire firm. When we<br />
discussed his business, he felt that he was a glorified taxi service,<br />
constantly competing with regard to prices, working long hours, and<br />
fighting for every last penny; whereas, what he truly wanted to be<br />
was a first choice specialist in VIP and celebrity transport. We then<br />
decided that he would phase out the cheaper work and just target<br />
the companies with which he wanted to do business. It is a slow<br />
journey, and he knows that most won’t have the stomach to follow<br />
it through. Good for us? No, great for us.<br />
6. Define and redefine what you are. If you don’t know, how can your<br />
potential clients know? Be prepared to change when you learn<br />
more about your direction. Write out a mission statement that fits<br />
in with your own personal goals, core values and natural talents.<br />
Forget thinking about whether it is ‘realistic’ or not. You don’t have<br />
to know how to get these things. Just list what you want. When<br />
people tell you something can’t be done, remember they only mean<br />
that they can’t do it. Not you. Rome wasn’t built in a day. It is also<br />
very unlikely that your business will be either. It doesn’t take years of<br />
training to do a marathon, just the ability to put one foot in front of<br />
the other then repeat. If you want to win the race, get a coach, but at<br />
the beginning, just setting off beats 90 per cent of the competition.<br />
7. Remember your life is a work in progress. There is no end, just a new<br />
set of goals. What happens after you make your first million, do you<br />
plan to retire? Why would you do that when you are just getting good<br />
at it? Enjoy the good days and bad days equally, as you need a decent<br />
philosophical approach to both of them to prepare you for either one<br />
or the other. Stop beating yourself up over things that don’t exactly go<br />
as planned. Part of life is the chance to learn, so do so.<br />
8. There is no competition. Stop calling other people in a similar<br />
business ‘competition’. Why allow anyone a chance to compare<br />
themselves to you? Who is better Microsoft or Apple? Different<br />
creatures with different rules for quantifying successes. Be like them.<br />
It’s only you against yourself against the clock. Everything else is just<br />
window dressing. Exercise a ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ (as opposed to a<br />
‘Red Ocean Strategy’ with the waters filled with the blood of tight<br />
margins and backstabbing policies, etc.) with clear skies and endless<br />
seas which you can sail freely by the natural wind in your sails and<br />
on your face. Money is just another source of energy. <strong>To</strong> start making<br />
it, you have to let go of it.<br />
9. Specialise. Start nicheing, stop competing. Just because you are<br />
good at a certain thing doesn’t mean that you can turn it into a<br />
decent living when everyone else is doing the same thing. Start<br />
specialising on small part of it, then become the industry best at<br />
it. Trust me, word will spread, and when you are known for it, then<br />
you can charge whatever you want for your expert services, because<br />
no-one else can do it as well as you do. Jack Walsh (the CEO of the<br />
Century) actually did just this when he took over General Electric. He<br />
told the lumbering manufacturer’s department heads, “If you can’t<br />
be counted as either number one or two in your industry, close your<br />
department down and do something else.”<br />
10. Start a university in your car. You have an opportunity to learn from<br />
Anthony Robbins, <strong>To</strong>m Peters, Dr Stephen Covey and any other top<br />
business motivators, and despite popular belief, you don’t have to<br />
spend 4,000 USD per ticket. Buy the talking books and listen in the<br />
car. Learn to love traffic jams, delays, bad drivers, etc. as they give<br />
you more opportunities to get the edge whilst going from A-B.<br />
Right then. Here ends the first lesson. <strong>Al</strong>l the very best in your future<br />
endeavours. Let me know if I can help you.<br />
CONTACT DAVE CRANE<br />
dave@thelifedesigners.com<br />
www.thelifedesignacademy.com<br />
www.theworldsbestmc.com<br />
www.thelifedesigners.com<br />
<strong>ThE</strong> LIFE DESIGNERS<br />
The Life Designers are a <strong>RAK</strong> FZE licensed company who<br />
specialise in providing motivational entertainment that<br />
changes people for life. Their work uses a combination<br />
of business coaching, self improvement tools, NLP<br />
(Neuro Linguistic Programming) and superior visualisation<br />
techniques to help attendees achieve a higher level<br />
of success. The Life Design Academy trains candidates<br />
in incredible presentation skills, enhanced sales and<br />
communication techniques and stress management. <strong>Al</strong>l<br />
programmes are designed with positive thinking, fun and<br />
business savvy as basic requirements of learning, which<br />
guarantees a more engaged team and workforce who can<br />
deal with absolutely anything.<br />
13 14
ART AND CULTURE<br />
Arab Influence on Western Music<br />
With award-winning conductor and performer GianLuca Marcianò<br />
hen studying the history of music, in Europe, I learned many theories<br />
W about the origins and the development of our musical forms and<br />
traditions. However, when I embarked upon a new musical experience in<br />
the Middle East, a completely different picture began to emerge. Lengthy<br />
research, into Arabic music and its history, took me on an exciting journey<br />
to an undiscovered world, full of shocking revelations.<br />
The origin of music from the Ancient Greeks is dogma for every Western<br />
musician, which is why, for instance, La Camerata de’ Bardi, in Italy,<br />
wanted to return to the origins of music through the study and emulation<br />
of Greek tragedies (first examples of ‘opera’ poetry in music). It is also<br />
acknowledged, in the western world, that the first alphabetical notation<br />
system was invented by the Greeks, and that the first complete musical<br />
treatise was written by Aristotle.<br />
<strong>Al</strong>l these ‘facts’ went undisputed, until few years ago. New studies about<br />
the Arabic influence on other cultures’ music traditions have, indeed,<br />
demonstrated that we have been blind for centuries; and it is a paradox<br />
that many scholars have huge difficulty accepting the indisputable<br />
evidence that has been revealed in these new studies.<br />
In Greece and then in Rome, Egyptians, Syrians and Arab musicians,<br />
renowned for their superior skills and talent, were commonly employed<br />
to perform, long before the era of tragedies and comedies. Semitic<br />
civilizations (Babylon, Assyria and Phoenicia) exported their musical<br />
knowledge to Greece in the earliest period of ‘polis’ system. Even the<br />
alphabetical notation was influenced by tablatures based on Arab<br />
instruments.<br />
Later, during the Abbasid Era, real ‘liederabend’ (‘evenings of song’)<br />
were performed, in the Music Majlis, interconnecting poetry and music<br />
in the same work, and musical theory reached the apogee, with <strong>Al</strong> Kindi<br />
(800-877 AD), the first great musical theoretician, and his successor, <strong>Al</strong><br />
Farabi, who wrote Kitabu al-Musiqa al-Kabir (The Great Book of Music).<br />
GianLuca Marcianò<br />
The instruments that were used in the Arabic world during that period<br />
were also extremely modern and definitely inspired many of the most<br />
popular instruments now used in contemporary Western music. The ‘Oud’<br />
gave birth to both the guitar and mandolin, while the ‘Nay’ was the first<br />
flute, ‘Qanun’ was prototype of the harp, ‘Ribab’ and ‘Kamancha’ were<br />
the first examples of stringed instruments like the violin or cello, and<br />
‘Zurna’ anticipated our horns and trumpets. Of course, we must not fail<br />
to mention the drums, which have come in toto from the Middle East.<br />
The influence of Arabic music is even wider still, as it is a fact that<br />
Andalusian music got its rhythm and melodies from Islamic sources,<br />
and the Troubadours in Southern France and Italy were similarly inspired<br />
as well. It is an additional surprise to discover that most Latin / Latin-<br />
American dances are a fusion between local music traditions and Arabic<br />
sounds and rhythms - tango, ‘milonga’, ‘guajira’, samba, ‘jarabe’ and even<br />
flamenco (from ‘fellah-mengu’ meaning ‘farmers without land’).<br />
Perhaps the most shocking discovery of all, for me as an Italian, was to<br />
learn that the modern system of notation (solmisation) – do re mi fa sol<br />
la si – was not created by Guido d’Arezzo, an Italian, as has long been<br />
assumed, but instead is actually derived from the Arabic alphabet (dal ra<br />
mi fa sad la sin) and was in use 400 years before Guido’s system! In fact,<br />
it was while studying music in Catalonia, that he learned this notation,<br />
from Islamic musicians.<br />
Quarter tones, ‘maqamat’ * and an ornamental way of singing are typical<br />
of Arabic music, but their presence is even evident in Eastern European<br />
folklore; in Romania, Serbia, Bosnia and Bulgaria, brass instruments<br />
and drums play traditional melodies full of quarter tones and Arabic<br />
tonalities. ‘Sevdalinke’, traditional songs in Arabic style from Bosnia, are<br />
still very popular in Sarajevo and even Serbia. During the time of Turkish<br />
occupation, Eastern European and Arabic music traditions met each other<br />
in the Balkans, where they live on today, even for the younger generations.<br />
Now, this music style has begun to influence even western pop music,<br />
which is looking for ethno sounds.<br />
Last but not least, the ‘Ribab’ was the progenitor of the ‘Er-Hu’, one of the<br />
most important instruments in all Chinese music tradition. The ‘Er-Hu’ is<br />
played with a bow and has only one string. The music literature for ‘Er-Hu’ is<br />
completely different than the usual Chinese music, with melodies, rhythm,<br />
ornaments, quarter tones, and atmospheres all inspired by Arab music.<br />
ART AND CULTURE<br />
In depth studies of the influence of Arab music in other parts of the world<br />
started only recently – a few years ago – and will certainly unfold in<br />
many directions, yielding more and more information, which will change<br />
our perspective and encourage us to think in terms of ‘world’ music as<br />
opposed to only western music and all ‘others’.<br />
Historically we owe much to the Arab / Muslim world for its contributions,<br />
which helped us to emerge from the Dark Ages into the Age of Reason<br />
and Enlightenment, and now, with the discovery that we have even<br />
greater links with each other through our forms of music, it is the perfect<br />
opportunity for all of us to come together and form a new understanding<br />
based on this common language, which needs no translation and speaks<br />
directly to hearts and souls, everywhere.<br />
ABOUT <strong>ThE</strong> AUThOR<br />
Originally an award-winning child prodigy as a pianist,<br />
Mo. GianLuca Marcianò has conducted and performed<br />
internationally for several seasons. He has conducted<br />
several examples of standard repertoire at many theaters.<br />
Mo. Marcianò was selected as Andrea Bocelli’s conductor in<br />
Beijing in 2008, where he conducted and supervised a gala<br />
concert of Mr. Bocelli, presiding over the Beijing Symphony<br />
Orchestra at the Winland Financial Center’s grand opening.<br />
One of Mo. Marcianò’s current projects is located in the<br />
United Arab Emirates, as the General Artistic Director and<br />
co-founder of an event company in Dubai, UAE, which<br />
will produce classical and crossover events debuting this<br />
season as concerts. The company’s co-founder and General<br />
Manager is Marc Heller.<br />
15 16
ART AND CULTURE<br />
Tracking the Emirates -<br />
Contemporary Art with a Local Flavour<br />
This April, some of the UAE’s most talented artists will converge on <strong>RAK</strong> Hospital for the unveiling<br />
of Tracking the Emirates, a high profile art competition and exhibition, held under the patronage of<br />
His Highness Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr <strong>Al</strong> Qassimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>,<br />
and His Excellency Mr. Gerhard Bruegger, Consul General of Switzerland.<br />
collaboration between its organiser, Swiss Art Gate UAE (SAGUAE),<br />
A and <strong>RAK</strong> Hospital, the competition was first conceived back in 2008,<br />
when SAGUAE’s General Manager, Kurt Blum, met <strong>RAK</strong> Hospital’s CEO,<br />
Jean-Marc Gauer, at an event in Dubai, and the two got to talking about<br />
Swiss Art Gate’s activities in the UAE.<br />
“Swiss Art Gate organises artistic exhibitions and events with a Swiss<br />
connection. <strong>RAK</strong> Hospital is managed by Sonnenhof Group, from<br />
Switzerland, and its CEO is Swiss,” says Blum. “He was very interested<br />
in what we do and asked me if it was possible for me to organise an art<br />
exhibition at <strong>RAK</strong> Hospital.”<br />
After carefully considering Gauer’s request, and evaluating the<br />
important aspects, particularly ‘Who’, ‘What’ and ‘Where’, Blum came<br />
up with the idea to hold a competition, under the theme Tracking the<br />
Emirates, where the work of local and resident UAE artists, would be<br />
selected for an exhibition.<br />
Tracking the Emirates, Blum explains, “is about people, through their art,<br />
depicting their roots or experiences in relation to past, present or future<br />
life in the UAE.” The works of art on display will be paintings, sculptures,<br />
installations and photographs created especially for the competition, and<br />
each selected artist will have a designated space in <strong>RAK</strong> Hospital to share<br />
his or her artistic vision of this theme.<br />
After the competition was announced, artists were invited to visit the<br />
site at <strong>RAK</strong> hospital, where they were given a guided tour and further<br />
information about the competition and the entry procedures. <strong>Al</strong>l those<br />
interested in participating were asked to register by providing a copy of<br />
their curriculum vitae and documentation of recent artwork in any one of<br />
the categories of photography, painting, sculpture or silent movie. Blum<br />
admits that the response was better than he had expected. “We received<br />
submissions from 28 artists, at least five from <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>. We were<br />
quite pleased – and the quality of the work was on quite a high level.”<br />
The entries were then evaluated by a panel of four judges, which – aside<br />
from Blum and Gauer – included Khalil Abdulwahid, Chairman of the<br />
Emirates Fine Arts Society, and Elisabeth Stoney, Art Professor at the<br />
University of Sharjah, College of Fine Art. In the end, around 18 local and<br />
resident artists were selected to display their work.<br />
“<strong>RAK</strong> Hospital is the perfect setting for this type of exhibition, with a lot<br />
of space for different kinds of art work, from sculptures, paintings and<br />
photographs to window and wall applications and more,” explains Blum.<br />
“Sponsoring and hosting this exhibition is a great way for the hospital<br />
to showcase and promote its top-notch health care facilities, while<br />
strengthening the local and regional art scene at the same time.”<br />
The aim of the competition and exhibition is to highlight quality local<br />
artwork and strengthen the profile of contemporary art in the UAE, as<br />
well as to bring local artists closer to their own roots and heritage. Unlike<br />
Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, which have already established themselves,<br />
in terms of art and culture, <strong>RAK</strong> is relatively new to the art scene. Blum<br />
hopes that the opportunity to view a large exhibit of contemporary local<br />
art, right here in <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>, will familiarise the locals and residents<br />
of <strong>RAK</strong> and the UAE with art and help them recognise that visiting a show<br />
or museum, to experience and appreciate art, can be as enjoyable and as<br />
regular an activity as attending a concert or movie.<br />
Tracking the Emirates presents a great opportunity for the artists<br />
involved to connect with each other and art lovers from <strong>RAK</strong> and the<br />
other emirates and share the passion that motivates them, and for<br />
some of them, like Sandra Woest, from German Label FZE (one of <strong>RAK</strong><br />
<strong>Free</strong> Trade Zone’s prominent registered clients) it will be their first time<br />
exhibiting. Woest, whose photographs of people she has encountered<br />
during her time in <strong>RAK</strong> will be among the pieces featured in the show,<br />
does not consider herself a professional photographer, but is very<br />
pleased to have been selected.<br />
“I just started my photography since I moved here,” she says. “The<br />
countryside gives you so many beautiful things to take pictures of – you<br />
just have to open the door and open your eyes to see it.”<br />
As Woest explains it, faces – particularly those of the elderly – tell some<br />
of the best stories. “I’m totally impressed by the Arab culture and Arabic<br />
faces; especially the old people,” she explains. “Is there anything more<br />
important or interesting than listening to their stories? We can learn<br />
more about life from them than from anywhere else; for me, the old<br />
people are the real history of a place, and we all should admire and pay<br />
as much attention to them as we can.” She believes her interest in the<br />
elderly stems from spending a lot of time with her grandparents during<br />
her childhood, and she really admires the way the younger generations<br />
here care for the older generations. “They are treated very nicely by their<br />
children and grandchildren, and the family takes good care of them. I wish<br />
it was like this everywhere in the world!”<br />
Woest also likes the way her photography enables her to reach out<br />
to people. “My intention is also to, every day, make somebody happy.<br />
Sometimes I go to the fish or vegetable market to take pictures of<br />
the people working there, and the next time I visit, I bring them the<br />
photographs. They are so happy to receive a gift of even just a little<br />
picture. When I see the smiles on their faces, I am reminded of what is<br />
really important in life – making other people smile – and it is something<br />
that does not cost anything.”<br />
Tracking the Emirates is the first exhibition of this kind organised by Swiss<br />
Art Gate in <strong>RAK</strong>, but they hope that it will open the door for similar shows<br />
and cultural events in the future. “For us, Tracking the Emirates is a new<br />
experience,” shares Blum, “and we don’t yet know what kind of overall<br />
response we will get, as some people feel that <strong>RAK</strong> is far from Sharjah,<br />
Dubai and Abu Dhabi; though in reality, it only takes about an hour to<br />
get to <strong>RAK</strong> from Dubai. So, we are thinking about ideas for similar events<br />
that we can bring to <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> in the future.” Blum also stresses<br />
that such a big exhibition is not possible without the support of local<br />
and regional sponsors. “We are very open to discussing sponsorship with<br />
any interested company, and we would greatly appreciate any financial<br />
contribution to this unique exhibition.”<br />
Tracking the Emirates will open at <strong>RAK</strong> Hospital on 7 April (World Health<br />
Day) at 6:00 pm, with an unveiling in the presence of His Highness Sheikh<br />
Saud and H. E. Mr. Bruegger. For those interested in viewing the show, it<br />
will officially open to the general public on 8 April.<br />
Any individual or organisation that would like to make a monetary<br />
contribution to this event or to sponsor it can contact:<br />
Mr. Kurt Blum<br />
General Manager, Swiss Art Gate UAE<br />
kblum@swissartgateuae.com<br />
Mobile: +971 50 225 1783<br />
ART AND CULTURE<br />
Photos similar to these,<br />
from Sandra Woest, will be<br />
part of the exhibition<br />
17 18
PARTNER NEWS ENVIRONMENT<br />
Join Us Online<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> has established a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and LinkedIn, as part of<br />
our ongoing efforts to connect with you and ensure that you have easy access to our most<br />
current information. For updates on <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>’s latest news, awards, past and upcoming events,<br />
announcements, and more, join us online!<br />
New Directives from <strong>RAK</strong><br />
Immigration Authority<br />
The following new directives from the <strong>RAK</strong> Immigration Authority are<br />
effective immediately:<br />
dependent/family Visa<br />
Individuals who wish to sponsor their dependents must be present in the<br />
UAE at the time of applying for the dependent’s visa, and they must stay<br />
in the country until the visa process is finalised. The Immigration Authority<br />
will verify the immigration status of the sponsor, as part of the application<br />
process, to ensure that they are still in the country. This applies to all new<br />
dependent /family visa applications, as well as to visa renewals.<br />
employment Visa applications for security personnel<br />
Use of the job title “Security Guard/Officer” or “Guard” is only allowed<br />
if the applicant is recruited or under training by an agency licensed<br />
with the UAE Federal Ministry. This applies to all new employment visa<br />
applications, as well as to visa renewals.<br />
For any further questions regarding visa applications, please contact<br />
visanotification@rakftz.com<br />
Client Corner - Visa<br />
Updates and Auditor List<br />
The “Client Corner” on the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> website has been developed even<br />
further, to allow for better communication with our existing clients.<br />
Visa updates<br />
Directives from <strong>RAK</strong> Immigration Authority regarding visas are changing<br />
regularly; to ensure that clients are always updated, we have added a<br />
section called “Visa Updates”. <strong>Al</strong>l major announcements regarding visas<br />
will be posted there. We strongly recommend that you visit regularly –<br />
particularly when you are planning to apply for (or renew) any type of<br />
visa – to avoid any inconvenience.<br />
auditors list<br />
<strong>To</strong> assist clients who are renewing their trade licences, we have listed a<br />
range of available auditors for your convenience.<br />
As always, Client Corner includes the regular ‘Announcements’ section,<br />
where we post all <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> announcements relevant to existing clients,<br />
including invitations to networking events. The Client Corner also consists of<br />
the Client Directory, Client Testimonials, Client Feedback, and Webmail Login.<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> helps Protect the Desert<br />
<strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> <strong>Free</strong> Trade Zone is fulfilling one of its main objectives: to generate<br />
awareness for environmental protection.<br />
uring a recent press conference attended by Oussama El Omari, <strong>RAK</strong><br />
D <strong>FTZ</strong> CEO, Aref <strong>Al</strong> Abbar, Hobbies Club CEO and Osama <strong>Al</strong> Shehhi,<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Environmental Health and Safety Officer, <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> announced<br />
its involvement, as one of the major sponsors, in the Desert Environment<br />
Protection Campaign 2010.<br />
Organised by Hobbies Club and supported by the Ministry of Environment<br />
and Water, the campaign aims to encourage the nation’s youth to spend<br />
their holidays and leisure time responsibly enjoying the region’s beautiful<br />
natural environments. This twist puts prime importance on educating<br />
campers, especially young nationals, on how to adopt sustainable<br />
practices with regard to the desert environment in the seven emirates.<br />
“We have pristine deserts in the UAE, and we would like both locals and<br />
expatriates to enjoy them. Ensuring that they are duly-informed that they<br />
are responsible for leaving the bit of land they use as clean and as pristine<br />
as when they came is the number one<br />
objective,” Oussama El Omari, <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong><br />
CEO commented.<br />
The campaign participants will also be<br />
able to interact with each other, while<br />
engaging in a variety of activities, such<br />
as horseback riding, swimming, desert<br />
cycling, falconry and hiking, which can<br />
easily contribute to the formation of new<br />
friendships and strengthen social relations<br />
among them. This will help them gain skills<br />
and knowledge pertaining to traditional<br />
hospitality, as well as learn responsible and<br />
eco-friendly camping practices.<br />
“We need to band together to be able to<br />
make a dent in the environmental crisis<br />
that the world is facing,” El Omari added.<br />
“This not a problem of only the West or Europe or even only the wealthy<br />
nations; we all are contributors to environmental degradation, pollution<br />
and global warming. As such, we must all actively be a factor in the<br />
solution. It doesn’t always have to mean big campaigns – we can start<br />
recycling and reusing on the individual level. As for <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>, we are<br />
committed to saving our environment, and we will actively do everything<br />
we can to move forward. Supporting the Desert Environment Protection<br />
Campaign 2010 is only the first among many environmental protection<br />
campaigns in which we plan to participate this year.”<br />
This new bid to save the desert follows a successful first campaign<br />
organised in 2009. The Hobbies Club, headed by Arif Bin <strong>Al</strong>i <strong>Al</strong><br />
Abbar, saw the positive effect last year’s event had on the youth,<br />
and this inspired them to, again, work in coordination with the Dubai<br />
Municipality to launch the second year of the Desert Environment<br />
Protection Campaign 2010.<br />
Oussama El Omari and Osama <strong>Al</strong><br />
Shehhi of <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>, with Aref <strong>Al</strong><br />
Abbar at the press conference<br />
19 20
SPECIAL FEATURE SPECIAL FEATURE<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> Terry Fox Run<br />
In March, people from all over <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> will run, walk, skip, skateboard, rollerblade and<br />
cycle through the city to raise money for cancer research in the UAE.<br />
The event is the first annual <strong>RAK</strong> Terry Fox Run. Terry Fox was a young<br />
Canadian who found the courage to organise a charity run across<br />
Canada in 1980, called the Marathon of Hope, to raise awareness about<br />
the importance of cancer research and funding. This was no easy task<br />
for Terry, as he was an amputee – he had lost his left leg to bone cancer<br />
at an early age.<br />
Terry succeeded despite the odds, running 5,373 km over 143 days, and<br />
helping to raise CAD 24.17 million – one dollar from every Canadian.<br />
However, Terry’s cancer had returned, and he died shortly after his run,<br />
at the age of just 22.<br />
But his dream lives on in the Terry Fox Run events, which are held<br />
around the world every year to bring communities together to raise<br />
money for cancer research. It is now the world’s largest one-day<br />
fundraiser for cancer research.<br />
This will be the first such event in <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>, and organisers are<br />
hoping the local community shows how deep they can dig to support<br />
the cause. Ken Forde, Recreations Manager at the <strong>RAK</strong> English Speaking<br />
School, says the event is very relaxed and fun day.<br />
“As this is a non-competitive event, anyone who has a passion for<br />
cancer awareness and wants to help in the fight against the spread of<br />
the disease is encouraged to participate,” Ken says.<br />
“This is also a great opportunity to bring the whole community together<br />
and we encourage all the schools, businesses, the local government, etc.<br />
to get involved. We also need volunteers on the morning of the run, so<br />
even if you don’t want to run, please sign up and help on the morning.”<br />
<strong>To</strong> find out more about how you can help, or to register, simply head<br />
to www.premiermarathons.com/rakterryfoxrun and download the<br />
sponsorship forms. Then ask your friends and family to sponsor you –<br />
every little bit helps!<br />
The event kicks off early Friday morning, 5 March. Participants can<br />
submit registration and sponsorship forms and receive their participation<br />
wristbands from 7.30 am. There will be two types of runs, both of which<br />
will start at 9.00 am.<br />
People who are feeling fit can take part in the 5km distance race. There<br />
is also a 3km distance for those that wish to walk, skateboard, skip,<br />
cycle, or even push the baby stroller. The shorter distance is a great<br />
chance for the family to join together for a good cause.<br />
100 per cent of all money raised is remitted to research institutions that<br />
are accredited by the International Union Against Cancer in Geneva. The<br />
funds raised from the first <strong>RAK</strong> Terry Fox Run will be donated to the UAE<br />
University Hospital in <strong>Al</strong> Ain, where a number of ongoing and impressive<br />
cancer research projects are being conducted.<br />
“Presently their projects include looking at the effects of chemotherapy,<br />
developing cancer gene therapy, further breast cancer treatments,<br />
testing various therapies against tumour growth, developing a possible<br />
anti-cancer agent and establishing the early stages of mammary gland<br />
cancer,” says Ken.<br />
But to continue these important research projects, your help is needed.<br />
So register on the website and start rounding up those sponsorships!<br />
The Terry Fox statue in<br />
Ottawa, Canada<br />
WhAT YOU NEED TO KNOW<br />
21 22<br />
WhEN?<br />
Friday, 5 March, 2010. Registration begins at 7.30am and<br />
the runs start at 9am.<br />
WhERE?<br />
<strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> Corniche<br />
hOW TO REGISTER?<br />
Head to www.premiermarathons.com/rakterryfoxrun<br />
WhERE TO FIND OUT MORE?<br />
Visit www.teryyfoxrun.org or Facebook<br />
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=252308532325&ref=nf<br />
or email terryfoxrak@gmail.com
23<br />
COVER STORY COVER STORY<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Employees Lived<br />
the Experience<br />
Friday, 19 February, before the sun had cast its first shimmering rays across the dunes of<br />
<strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>, more than 70 <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> employees were already out and about, warming up for<br />
the much-awaited <strong>RAK</strong> Half Marathon 2010, together with the other more than 2,000 marathon<br />
participants and spectators.<br />
In full support of the emirate’s premiere event, <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> was represented by<br />
13 teams, one for each department, in the Team Relay Challenge Category.<br />
Each team trained for three months in preparation for the big event.<br />
Teamwork being of prime importance, each group, composed of four<br />
runners, ran the 21.0975km with a confidence and enthusiasm borne from<br />
regular practice and coordination – an exhibition of true team spirit in play.<br />
After all the runners had crossed the finish line and their times were duly<br />
recorded, the winners of the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> internal relay competition were<br />
announced at the free zone’s headquarters in Nakheel. <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Team 7,<br />
composed of Suresh Yadav, Pradeep Kumar, Bader Nazeer and Veeramuthu<br />
Nani, who managed to bag ninth place overall in the <strong>RAK</strong> Half Marathon<br />
Relay Category, came in first in the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> internal competition with a<br />
recorded time of 1:40:20.<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Team 4, composed of Yahya Abdo <strong>Al</strong>i, Saeed Sarhan, Habeeb K<br />
and Jyothish Kumar, came in second in the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> internal competition,<br />
finishing at 1:55:09, while Team 6, composed of Michael De Versoza,<br />
Amster Fajardo, Shameer Khan and Mohan Singh, came in third, with a<br />
recorded time of 1:57:31.<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> CEO, Oussama El Omari, who ran for <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Team 10, was<br />
all smiles when he reached the finish line. Cooling down after his run,<br />
he said, “What a fantastic event! The <strong>RAK</strong> Half Marathon got a lot of us<br />
hooked on a healthy exercise regimen courtesy of the regular training,<br />
and it also gave us the opportunity to hold our own healthy, friendly<br />
competition to set the best record.”<br />
He added, “I am very proud of <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Team 7 for placing amongst the<br />
top ten teams overall in the Team Relay category, and I am also proud of<br />
each and every one of our staff who came out here to run or give moral<br />
support. This just shows what <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> is all about – great teamwork and<br />
indomitable team spirit, at work and at play.”<br />
True enough, the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> employees present, whether as marathon<br />
participants or spectators offering moral support for their colleagues,<br />
exhibited the same enthusiasm and energy. Many expressed their<br />
appreciation and gratitude to the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> management for providing<br />
uniforms, refreshments and their all out support for the teams.<br />
“We had an awesome day, and we all look forward to taking part in similar<br />
events, like the Terry Fox Run in March,” said one of the participants. With<br />
spirits and a strong sense of social responsibility running high in <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong><br />
employees, the region will surely see <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> represented in more events<br />
of this type.<br />
But for now, the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> employees who turned out for the race can<br />
proudly claim the <strong>RAK</strong> Half Marathon slogan – we lived the experience!<br />
24
25<br />
IN <strong>ThE</strong> NEWS IN <strong>ThE</strong> NEWS<br />
Events and<br />
happenings at<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong><br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Joins ‘Clean Up<br />
UAE’ Campaign<br />
<strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> <strong>Free</strong> Trade Zone organised an effort to clear waste<br />
scattered on Hulayla Island’s beaches, as part of the eighth ‘Clean Up<br />
UAE’ national campaign. The day proved a huge success, with between<br />
300 to 400 volunteers – from <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>, local government schools, and<br />
private companies – showing up to do their part. Close to 800 garbage<br />
bags worth of litter and debris were collected.<br />
Launch of <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong><br />
‘Employee Self-Service’<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> announced the launch of ‘Employee Self-Service’ application<br />
that provides <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> employees with easy access to HR information<br />
and services. The application gives them more control over their personal<br />
information, enabling them to quickly and conveniently review their leave<br />
balance and apply for leave. They can also use the system to get real<br />
time information on pay and other personal details as well as to access<br />
employee policies, procedures and guidelines.<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Strengthens<br />
Trade Links with Italy<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with<br />
Emirates Chamber of Commerce in Italy (ECCI), with the goal of bringing<br />
more businesses and investors to <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>. Present at the signing<br />
were Oussama El Omari, <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> CEO, and Dr. Ninni Meli, Secretary<br />
General – ECCI, with Stefano Napoleone, ECCI Vice President, and Luca<br />
Gorlero, <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Director of Marketing.<br />
Omani Ministry of<br />
Commerce and Industry<br />
Omani Ministry of Commerce and Industry conducted a study tour of <strong>RAK</strong><br />
<strong>Free</strong> Trade Zone to learn about the industrialisation process in the UAE as<br />
well as the industrial activities within the free zone. The delegation was<br />
joined by representatives from Japan International Cooperation Agency<br />
who are working with the Omani Ministry of Commerce and Industry.<br />
Pakistan Chamber of<br />
Commerce and Industry<br />
visits <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong><br />
<strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> <strong>Free</strong> Trade Zone received a delegation from Pakistan<br />
headed by Ijaz Ahmed Mumtaz, Senior President of Lahore Chamber of<br />
Commerce and Industry. Other participants were Sheikh Abdul Qayyun,<br />
President of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Salim<br />
Parekh, Chairman of Sindh Industrial and Trading Estates in Karachi, and<br />
Sohail Aziz, Vice President of Marketing Association of Pakistan.<br />
Launch of ‘INJAZ Training<br />
Center’ Website<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> announced the launch of ‘INJAZ Training Center’ website in the<br />
last quarter of 2009 INJAZ offers a variety of E-learning courses to meet<br />
the diverse needs of <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>Free</strong> Trade Zone employees and clients as well<br />
as the community of <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>.<br />
The E-Learning programme offers courses from different fields such as:<br />
Information Technology (IT), Desktop, Business, Accounting, Customer<br />
Services, Sales, Marketing, and Legal. A full range of certification training<br />
including Microsoft, CompTia, Novell, and Oracle are available.<br />
For more information about our E-learning courses, please contact us at<br />
+921 7 2077130 or injaz@rakftz.com<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Briefs New US<br />
Consul General<br />
<strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> <strong>Free</strong> Trade Zone recently briefed the new US Consul<br />
General, Justin H Siberell, on the latest and planned projects in <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong><br />
<strong>Khaimah</strong> during his official visit to the free zone. The Consul General<br />
expressed interest in strengthening ties with <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> and the Government<br />
of <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> and discussed possible avenues for future collaboration<br />
aimed at encouraging US investment in the emirate.<br />
Out of the approximately 700 US companies present in the UAE, 163 are<br />
registered with <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>. The free zone established offices in New York<br />
and Miami in 2009 and has plans to further expand its presence in the US<br />
market in the near future.<br />
26
27<br />
BEYOND <strong>ThE</strong> ZONE BEYOND <strong>ThE</strong> ZONE<br />
Banyan Tree <strong>Al</strong> Wadi – Luxury at<br />
One with Nature<br />
As a first time visitor travelling to the luxury desert resort, Banyan Tree <strong>Al</strong> Wadi, you may very well<br />
feel that you are lost in the <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> desert, wandering past camel and date farms, not to<br />
mention a few local families camping amidst the rolling red sand dunes.<br />
t is only as you round the last bend in the road that the resort reveals<br />
I itself – its sand coloured buildings rising up out of the desert and then<br />
almost blending again into the background.<br />
“We have taken the Arabic heritage and the unique desert environment<br />
into account, so that we harmonise with our surroundings. Of the 101<br />
pool-villas, the tented pool-villas are inspired by the tents of nomadic<br />
Bedouin tribes, while the deluxe pool-villas are meant to depict the<br />
traditional mud brick architecture of <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>,” says General<br />
Manager, Pascal Eppink, describing the design and layout of the resort.<br />
“This property covers 100 hectares of land, and our buildings take up only<br />
40 per cent of that – the rest is dedicated as a nature reserve for animals<br />
native to the Arabian Peninsula, like the gazelles and the Arabian Oryx.”<br />
The Banyan Tree, however, is not just a wildlife preserve– it is also a place<br />
where you can relax and enjoy being spoiled and pampered. There are no<br />
typical hotel rooms within the resort, only spacious villas – each with a<br />
personal pool and views of the desert. The bathrooms in the ‘<strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>’<br />
tented pool villas are as large as the bedrooms, allowing plenty of space<br />
for indulging in a massage, without ever leaving the villa.<br />
“The ‘<strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>’ villa is an intimate and exclusive space, especially for<br />
special occasions. We are happy to prepare and suggest something unique,<br />
depending on the occasion and the guests’ requirements. Meanwhile, the<br />
connecting <strong>Al</strong> Rimal deluxe pool-villa is perfect for families, as it allows parents<br />
to be close to their children yet still enjoy their own privacy,” Eppink says.<br />
If you prefer having your treatments in the spa, you can still find privacy<br />
in one of the 10 spa pavilions. Treatments are Asianinspired,<br />
and the therapists use aromatic oils and<br />
herbs to create the right atmosphere.<br />
For the more active guest, there is a practically endless<br />
choice of activities – from archery and biking to falconry<br />
and sand-boarding. There is a stable connected to the<br />
resort with Arabic horses and camels. Camel caravan<br />
treks will be offered, where the ‘ships of the desert’<br />
take guests out in the nature reserve – a more serene<br />
alternative to the usual 4-wheel drive desert safari.<br />
According to Eppink, the resort has something<br />
for everyone and accommodates a wide variety of<br />
requests. “Guests can choose to go for day trips into<br />
the desert or to Dubai. Or, if they want to stay here,<br />
they can, for example, go on a guided mountain bike<br />
tour. We even do owl walks and scorpion hunting,” he<br />
elaborates. “If you are staying with friends or family,<br />
we can organise to take you all out into the desert,<br />
set up a bonfire among the sand dunes, and have the<br />
chef prepare a BBQ dinner under the stars. Saffron, which is our signature<br />
restaurant in all our Banyan Tree properties, will provide an authentic Thai<br />
experience, not only with the food but the service as well.”<br />
In addition, Banyan Tree <strong>Al</strong> Wadi has recently taken over management of<br />
the <strong>Al</strong> Hamra Golf Club, and transfers are organised for the resort’s golfing<br />
guests. There are also many options for younger children, who are often<br />
excluded from other high-end resorts.<br />
“We are very family oriented and child-friendly – unlike many other luxury<br />
resorts,” Eppink explains. “If you bring a child over four, they can spend<br />
the day at our Activity Centre, attending falconry classes or horsebackriding<br />
lessons. So you can book a day at the spa or play golf at <strong>Al</strong> Hamra<br />
Golf Club, while your kids are entertained here.”<br />
An important part of the Banyan Tree <strong>Al</strong> Wadi – as well as all Banyan Tree<br />
resorts around the world – is the strong commitment to corporate social<br />
responsibility, from simple acts, like using energy saving light bulbs, to<br />
the more complex process of collecting the waste water from the resort,<br />
which then undergoes reverse osmosis, so that it can be reused in the<br />
nature reserve’s water-hole and for watering the plants.<br />
The resort offers a Banyan Tree Gallery, a lifestyle gallery showcasing<br />
indigenous arts and crafts from community projects worldwide. The<br />
resort will also feature an activity centre and library, scheduled to open in<br />
March, where educational lessons in falconry and Arabian lifestyle, culture<br />
and heritage will be offered.<br />
In reaching out to its immediate community, Banyan Tree <strong>Al</strong> Wadi plans<br />
to partner with the Environmental Protection and Development Authority<br />
(EPDA) in <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>. The aim is to raise environmental awareness,<br />
especially amongst children, through classroom sessions, bird-watching<br />
classes and nature walks for the local schools.<br />
Enjoy the pinnacle of luxury with a clean conscience - book yourself<br />
a stay at Banyan Tree <strong>Al</strong> Wadi! For details and bookings, please call<br />
+971 7 2067777.<br />
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29<br />
BEYOND <strong>ThE</strong> ZONE hAPPENINGS<br />
The New Ice Age<br />
After months of waiting, the new Ice Age is finally here. <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>’s new<br />
Ice Land Water Park is now open.<br />
Drive out of <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>, past <strong>Al</strong> Hamra into the Khor Qurm region,<br />
and you could be forgiven for thinking you have driven into another<br />
world. Giant sea monsters and ice-capped mountain rise up out of the<br />
desert. You aren’t dreaming – it’s the new Ice Land Water Park, part of<br />
an ambitious development that will further cement <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>’s<br />
reputation as a world-class tourism and leisure destination.<br />
Costing more than AED 140 million to build, the park will be home to 27<br />
different types of water slides; a wave pool; an artificial coral reef, with<br />
fish for snorkelling; tundra bath jacuzzis; an action river; and an aqua<br />
football pool. It also features the world’s largest man-made waterfall –<br />
at 160m wide and 14m high – from which visitors can dive into a pool<br />
below. It will even have an Iberian rain-dance pool –<br />
where people can dance, while being showered with<br />
artificial rain and music played by local DJs.<br />
“The water slides emerge from 5 towers situated on<br />
top of the Polar Mountains, staged as an extension<br />
of the Hajar Mountains,” says Santokh Chawla, Joint<br />
Managing Director of Polo <strong>RAK</strong> Amusements.<br />
“Ice Land’s theme comes from the concept of global<br />
warming, which has led to a transpolar arctic drift. A<br />
group of penguins, who survived the journey from the<br />
Arctic to the Arabian Desert, set up their new home<br />
along the coast of Jazeera <strong>Al</strong> Hamra.”<br />
The snow-themed water park is the first phase of an<br />
AED 850 million development called WoW <strong>RAK</strong>. When<br />
finished, WoW <strong>RAK</strong> will have two amusement parks<br />
– Ice Land Water Park and Planet Earth Theme Park –<br />
as well as a shopping mall, entertainment plaza and<br />
budget resort.<br />
The entire development will cover around 120 acres,<br />
making it one of the largest in the UAE.<br />
When everything is up and running, WoW <strong>RAK</strong> will be able to host more<br />
than 15,000 people a day. The next phases of the development are<br />
planned to open over the coming two years.<br />
The theme park is being developed by Polo <strong>RAK</strong> Amusements – a joint<br />
venture between Polo Amusement Park from India, the <strong>RAK</strong> Investment<br />
Authority and <strong>RAK</strong> Properties.<br />
His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr <strong>Al</strong> Qassimi, Crown Prince and Deputy<br />
Ruler of <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>, laid the foundation stone for WoW <strong>RAK</strong> back in<br />
August 2006; three years later, the first stage of WoW <strong>RAK</strong> is now open.<br />
It has been worth the wait – the Ice Age is finally here!<br />
For more, check out their website www.icelandwaterpark.com.<br />
An artist’s impression<br />
of the Polar Mountains.<br />
What’s happening in <strong>RAK</strong><br />
March / April 2010<br />
happenings at the hilton<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> Resort and Spa<br />
For a South American experience, visit Pura Vida Restaurant at the Hilton<br />
Beach Resort every Thursday from 6.30-11:00 pm. Enjoy live samba music<br />
with the Leo band, beverages, and all the meat you can eat from the<br />
Churrasco BBQ.<br />
Celebrate St Patrick’s Day on 18 March, with a green-themed beach party<br />
at the Waterbreaker terrace.<br />
For Easter, the Hilton Resort will be putting on a Seafood Night at <strong>Al</strong> Bahar<br />
Restaurant, as well as an Easter Brunch at Maarid Restaurant.<br />
For details and booking, please call: +971 7 2065502.<br />
Festive activities at Cove<br />
Rotana Resort<br />
Come and gather around with friends and family for a BBQ on the<br />
beach, every Friday in March from 7:00-11:00 pm. If you want to finish<br />
the night with an Arabic touch, try the shisha while relaxing on the<br />
majlis facing the sea.<br />
Celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday, 21 March, at the Cinnamon restaurant,<br />
where they will put on a lavish buffet especially created to please the<br />
entire family, including a kids’ food station and entertainment. Cake and<br />
flowers for mommy are available on request.<br />
Enjoy Easter with a special brunch from Friday, 2 April, until Sunday, 4 April at<br />
Cinnamon Restaurant. For details and booking, please call: +971 7 2066000.<br />
<strong>To</strong>wer Links Golf<br />
Competitions<br />
Saturday, 13 March, <strong>To</strong>wer Links will host a ‘Ball and Chain’ Challenge,<br />
which is a Greensome format with tee times from 12:00 pm. This event will<br />
have two categories: the main one for pairs (of either gender or mixed) and<br />
another event for all male pairs. On 27 March and 24 April, the club will<br />
hold their Monthly Medal competitions, which guests are welcome to join.<br />
<strong>To</strong>wer Links Golf Club also holds a nine hole, floodlit, social competition<br />
every Wednesday night, with a different format each week. For more<br />
information, please email golf@towerlinks.com or call +971 7 2279939.<br />
30
EXPLORING <strong>RAK</strong> EXPLORING <strong>RAK</strong><br />
Sheba’s Palace<br />
Ancient ruins are both haunting and comforting. This is their unique allure, which enables them to<br />
draw generation after generation of tourists, explorers and romantics.<br />
Standing amongst their decay and rubble you cannot help but think<br />
of death, but at the same time, the fact that some part of something<br />
built by man still remains hundreds or thousands of years after he has<br />
passed on is heartening. These remnants of antiquity pique our curiosity<br />
and appeal to our desire to connect with the past.<br />
In this regard, the Shimal district (Shamal) is perhaps the most interesting<br />
place to visit in <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>. Hidden in plain sight just off the highway<br />
to Oman, it has been the site of human habitation for several millennia,<br />
with the earliest archaeological finds dating back as far as the 3rd Millennium BC. As such, the area holds great significance in the history<br />
of the United Arab Emirates, yet little is known about these sites, and<br />
relatively few residents of the UAE have visited them.<br />
Even many of the inhabitants of Shamal and neighbouring villages don’t<br />
really know the stories behind them or appreciate their significance. For<br />
them, they are simply another part of the landscape, like the dry desert<br />
brush and the mountains.<br />
The view over Shimal<br />
from Sheba’s Palace<br />
31<br />
At a quick glance, Shamal appears no different than any of the other little<br />
settlements nestled at the foot of the Hajar mountains – scattered clusters<br />
of houses and small shops, goats idly grazing along narrow roads, and<br />
residents who stare curiously at the occasional visitor – but a closer look<br />
reveals much more.<br />
Heading off the highway, you quickly find yourself on a journey through<br />
time, as every few hundred metres yields desolate remnants of one<br />
different era after another. A tiny winding road carries you towards the<br />
mountains, past a 19th Century watch tower on the outskirts of the village<br />
and between rocky fields, where gnarled desert trees cast their shade<br />
over ancient burial sites, until suddenly, you find yourself directly below<br />
the crumbling ruins of a medieval mountain fortress, Sheba’s palace, in<br />
English, or Qasr <strong>Al</strong> Zabba (Palace of Zenobia), in Arabic.<br />
The Queen of Sheba is mentioned in both the Bible and Quran as a<br />
powerful ruler who paid a visit to the court of King Solomon in the 10th<br />
Century BC, while Zenobia was a 3rd Century (AD) Syrian Queen, who led<br />
a revolt against the Roman Empire. Despite<br />
the names, there is no evidence to suggest<br />
a link between the fortress and either of the<br />
legendary monarchs, who lived long before it<br />
was ever built.<br />
It’s not clear why the structure is attributed<br />
to these women, but local historians believe<br />
that there may have been some powerful<br />
female ruler associated with it. The general<br />
consensus is that it dates to the end of the<br />
Julfar Period about 400 to 500 years ago,<br />
though some pre-Islamic pottery was found<br />
nearby, indicating that there might have been<br />
an earlier stronghold on the same spot.<br />
According to ancient accounts, Julfar, the<br />
historical name for <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>, was<br />
an important centre of trade, in existence<br />
from at least the 9th-10th Century AD, until<br />
it fell into decline during the time of the<br />
Portuguese occupation in the 17th Century.<br />
The palace is believed to have been the<br />
summer retreat of Julfar’s ruler.<br />
The rocky ridge on which the ‘palace’ is situated is about 200 metres<br />
up. Stairs have been built recently, so it is much more accessible than it<br />
would have been before. Even so, they only cover about three quarters<br />
of the approach, and the final portion of the ascent entails scrambling<br />
up the sloping rocky surface to the top. The effort spent is well worth<br />
it, if only for the view. Standing up there, in the swirling gusts of cool,<br />
fresh air, it isn’t hard to understand why the fortress was built on that<br />
spot. On a clear and sunny day – as most days are here – you can see for<br />
miles – across Shamal, over the city of <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>, and all the way to<br />
the shimmering sea. Not easily accessed, it would have been the perfect<br />
vantage point from which to safely keep watch over the settlements<br />
below and spot any approaching trouble from afar off. It’s also noticeably<br />
cooler and breezier there than on the ground below, making it a far more<br />
pleasant, during the harsh summer months.<br />
Sadly – abandoned and unprotected for years – the palace is in an advanced<br />
state of decline, the result of repeated vandalism. For the untrained eye, it<br />
is hard to picture what it must have looked like in its heyday, but from the<br />
remaining bits of wall and foundation, it is possible to roughly make out<br />
the location of different rooms and chambers. According to the experts<br />
who have studied the site, the palace was a rectangular structure with<br />
rooms on two levels and round towers in the corners.<br />
The best preserved portion is a sunken room, with a high up opening<br />
looking out over the town below. It is not clear for what it was used,<br />
but speculation ranges from a cistern for water storage (most likely) to<br />
a dungeon for prisoners. Though it was abandoned in the 16th Century,<br />
it continued to serve as a retreat in times of danger for the residents<br />
of Shamal for some time after that. The remnants of a long double wall<br />
extending all along the edges of the site, certainly seem to indicate some<br />
sort of protective purpose. Because there is no mention of the palace in<br />
any old texts, most of what is ‘known’ about it is purely guesswork, based<br />
on the general history of the area, and the little fragments of evidence<br />
scattered around.<br />
Unfortunately, attempts to protect the palace and<br />
other ancient sites with barbed wire fences have<br />
not been very successful, and the only purpose<br />
they seem to serve is to obscure the view and ruin<br />
attempts to get a good photograph. Given the<br />
amount of damage it has incurred (broken down to<br />
its foundations in most parts), a reconstruction of<br />
Sheba’s Palace would be quite expensive and not<br />
really feasible, but there is some talk of eventually<br />
doing something to stop it from disappearing<br />
completely and turn it into a proper tourist<br />
destination.<br />
At the moment however, it remains as it has for<br />
generations – quietly crumbling into the ground –<br />
and accessible to anyone willing to make the climb.<br />
hOW TO GET <strong>ThE</strong>RE<br />
Drive north along Oman Road (highway leading to <strong>RAK</strong><br />
<strong>FTZ</strong> Industrial Park) towards Rams. Cross the junction with<br />
<strong>Al</strong> Mamourah Street, and after the last traffic signal on that<br />
road, drive straight until you reach the fourth road on the<br />
right, marked by a brown sign reading ‘Shamal’. (There is a<br />
big pink hall on the opposite side of the highway.)<br />
This road is known as Archaeology Road, and if you continue<br />
on it for approximately 1km, you will see a 19th Century<br />
watch tower on your left. Nearby, along the side of the road,<br />
to the right and then a little further down to the left are<br />
some of the biggest of the Bronze Age tombs discovered in<br />
the area. These are partially fenced in with barbed wire.<br />
Continue past the tombs, and the road will take you<br />
through Shamal. Follow the road until you find the<br />
mountain and a gravel parking lot (the road will curve<br />
sharply to the right at this point). Sheba’s Palace is on the<br />
ridge directly above.<br />
Climb the steps winding up the side of the mountain. These<br />
end about 3/4 of the way up; from there, the two easiest<br />
ways to reach the top are to either climb the rock face to the<br />
front or walk around to the side until you see a more gradual<br />
incline (with a loose rocky surface) leading up to the ruins.<br />
The sunken room<br />
is one of the only<br />
remaining structures<br />
32
33<br />
INTL OFFICES<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>Free</strong> Trade Zone<br />
International Offices<br />
India: Positioning <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong><br />
as a Centre of Excellence<br />
for the Indian Business<br />
Community<br />
The <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> India Liason Office in Mumbai, led by Bissoon Surnam, is<br />
very active on both the marketing and sales fronts and regularly conducts<br />
intensive campaigns, including road shows, in the major cities and<br />
metropolitan areas of India - Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore,<br />
Chennai, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Indore, Lucknow,<br />
Ludhiana to name just a few.<br />
In the past year, 25 road shows were organised all over India, with one<br />
attended by around 200 businessmen who participated in interactive B2B<br />
meetings with <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> representatives.<br />
Additionally, the Liaison Office organises inward delegations, which bring<br />
Indian businessmen to <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> on two-day, fact-finding missions. The<br />
main objective of these inward missions, including visits to the <strong>Free</strong> Zone’s<br />
Business, Industrial and Technology Parks, is to enable the delegates to<br />
get an up-close look at <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> and the various opportunities it offers<br />
and develop a clearer picture of the prevailing business environment and<br />
investment climate.<br />
With a view to attract more FDI from India, the Liaison Office has also<br />
developed good working relationships with the most prominent trade<br />
bodies and institutions in India, namely the Confederation of Indian<br />
Industries, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, the Gem &<br />
Jewellery Export Promotion Council, and the Associated Chambers of<br />
Commerce & Industry of India, amongst others.<br />
The <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> India Liaison Office endeavours to act as a convenient stop,<br />
where Indian businessmen interested in registering a company with the<br />
<strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> <strong>Free</strong> Trade Zone can get all the information and assistance<br />
they require. If you are interested in participating in one of one of our<br />
events in India or one of the missions to <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>, please contact<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> India Liason Office on india@rakftz.com.<br />
Bissoon Surman speaking<br />
at the Special Economic<br />
Zones Conference in India<br />
Germany: The Fifth Season<br />
While well-known carnivals are held in many southern German cities<br />
and in the Rhineland cities of Mainz, Aachen, Bonn and Düsseldorf, the<br />
biggest and zaniest ‘Rhine Karneval’, in Germany, or for that matter in all<br />
of Europe, is held in Köln (Cologne). Köln is not only the fourth largest and<br />
oldest city in Germany, and the most important economic and industrial<br />
centre in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia, but also the location of the<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> office in Europe.<br />
The carnival period, called the Fifth Season, is officially ‘opened’ at 11<br />
minutes past 11 on the 11th of November and continues, fairly low-key,<br />
for about three months, before coming to a climax on Weiberfastnacht<br />
and Rosenmontag.<br />
On Weiberfastnacht (women`s carnival night) it is a tradition for women<br />
to cut off the tie of any man within reach, and women also take control<br />
of the city hall on that day.<br />
More than one million people go to the Rosenmontag parade in Köln<br />
every year, and many more watch the festivities on TV. The parade consists<br />
of floats that try to be beautiful and also represent satirical and political<br />
topics. Dressed in costumes, people line the streets to cheer the floats and<br />
the marching carnival bands, and tonnes of sweets are thrown into the<br />
crowds, while everybody sings traditional carnival songs.<br />
Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the Christian Lent leading<br />
up to Easter, marks the end of the Fifth Season and the street carnival.<br />
According to a study by the Boston Consulting Group, ‘Karneval’ in Köln has<br />
an important social and economic impact on the city. Around 1.5m Euros<br />
are donated to charities every year during the carnival period. In addition,<br />
5000 jobs in Köln and the surrounding region depend on the annual<br />
festivities during the Fifth Season. The carnival also plays an important role<br />
in business networking, and many companies use visits to these events with<br />
clients to intensify customer relations. An active commitment to carnival is<br />
seen as an element of corporate social responsibility.<br />
During this carnival season, the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Cologne office team wishes everyone:<br />
KÖLLE ALAAF (phrase used to greet people during the Fifth Season).<br />
INTL OFFICES<br />
Turkey: Gulay Avici heads<br />
the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> office in Turkey<br />
Gulay Avci was brought up and educated in Turkey. She has a BA in<br />
History from Middle East Technical University. After working several years<br />
for Emirates Airlines in Dubai, she joined the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> sales team at The<br />
Fairmont Dubai hotel in 2005.<br />
Since 2007, she has been the Regional Manager of <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>’s office in<br />
Istanbul. In this function, she brings investors from Turkey to <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong><br />
through various business events and exhibitions, and she has close<br />
contacts with business associations and chambers of commerce in Turkey.<br />
Gulay can be contacted on turkey@rakftz.com, for business opportunities<br />
at <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>Free</strong> Trade Zone.<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Regional<br />
Manager, Turkey,<br />
Gulay Avci<br />
34
35<br />
ACADEMY ZONE<br />
Graduation First for Celebrating<br />
UK University’s <strong>RAK</strong> Campus<br />
Last month, the University of Bolton <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> campus celebrated a double-first, as its first<br />
cohort of students to reach graduation in <strong>RAK</strong> attended the University’s first degree congregation<br />
ceremony in the United Arab Emirates.<br />
Those who received their awards from the University’s Vice Chancellor,<br />
Dr. George Holmes, were also the first University of Bolton students<br />
to graduate from its first international campus, which is also the first<br />
and only British university operating in <strong>RAK</strong> under the <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>Free</strong> Trade<br />
Zone umbrella.<br />
Around 25 undergraduate students received their Bachelor’s degrees in<br />
Business Management, and approximately 30 post-graduate students<br />
received certificates or diplomas, in front of over 300 students.<br />
The degree congregation ceremony was also attended by the University<br />
of Bolton’s Chancellor, The Rt Hon. Baroness Morris of Bolton, OBE, DL.<br />
H.H. Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr <strong>Al</strong> Qassimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of <strong>Ras</strong><br />
<strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong>, was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the University<br />
of Bolton. Sheikh Saud received the honorary doctorate from University of<br />
Bolton’s Chancellor, The Rt Hon. Baroness Morris of Bolton, OBE, DL, at a<br />
glittering function held at the Hilton <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> Resort and Spa. The<br />
Doctor of the University degree was awarded to Sheikh Saud in recognition<br />
of his services to education.<br />
The event was also attended by<br />
various dignitaries, including H.H.<br />
Sheikh Faisal Bin Saqr <strong>Al</strong> Qassimi,<br />
Chairman of <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>Free</strong> Trade Zone<br />
and <strong>RAK</strong> Finance Department,<br />
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Saud <strong>Al</strong><br />
Qassimi, other sheikhs, heads of<br />
various government departments,<br />
members of the British Council<br />
and British Embassy.<br />
The campus currently has 300<br />
students registered in a range of<br />
education programmes.<br />
These include Business, Computing, Engineering, Electronics and Supply<br />
Chain, all of which follow the control, assessment and curriculum of the<br />
University’s UK centre.<br />
<strong>Al</strong>l progression and awards are conferred by the same UK examination<br />
boards assessing University of Bolton students in the UK. Therefore, the<br />
university is able to award a UK degree to <strong>RAK</strong> campus students.<br />
The <strong>Ras</strong> <strong>Al</strong> <strong>Khaimah</strong> campus is part of the University of Bolton’s strategy,<br />
focusing on internationalisation. Zubair Hanslot, Academic Director of<br />
the <strong>RAK</strong> Campus, is supported by the University’s International Campus<br />
Learning Unit, based at the UK campus. The Unit provides support to<br />
ensure quality control over procedures and processes.<br />
“The internationalisation agenda is providing global opportunities<br />
to many communities who otherwise would not be able to access UK<br />
education, says Hanslot. “It is also a mechanism by which the university<br />
reflects on its teaching and learning strategies and the manner in which<br />
the academic curriculum is put into practice.”<br />
H.H. Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr <strong>Al</strong> Qassimi, addresses<br />
graduates while special guests, including<br />
H.H. Sheikh Faisal Bin Saqr <strong>Al</strong> Qassimi, look on<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> FREE TRADE ZonE<br />
<strong>ThE</strong> hOME OF BUSINESS<br />
CElEbRATIng 10 YEARs of connecting smes worldwide<br />
with emerging markets, via our award winning services and<br />
simple registration procedures.<br />
winner best emerging free zone at the 2008, 2007 and 2006 MELA Awards<br />
winner industrial area of the Year at the 2009 SCATA Awards<br />
winner best website at the 2009 World <strong>Free</strong> Zone Convention<br />
serving 4,000 Companies from 120 Countries<br />
international offices in Germany, Turkey, India and USA
37<br />
Calendar<br />
CALENDAR CALENDAR<br />
Your guide to what’s coming up.<br />
March Events<br />
Channel middle east awards<br />
1 march, 2010<br />
Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Dubai<br />
The 2010 Channel Middle East Awards pays tribute to the outstanding achievements<br />
of vendors and their channel partners during the past year.<br />
For more information, visit www.itp.net/events/channelmeawards<br />
Gulf photo plus<br />
1 - 6 march, 2010<br />
Dubai Knowledge Village Block 13, Dubai<br />
This event will be packed with fantastic workshops, the Photofriday featuring<br />
90-minute seminars and panels, an exhibition featuring work by the visiting<br />
photographers and awesome special offers from all your favourite brands.<br />
For more information, visit www.gulfphotoplus.com<br />
franchising middle east 2010<br />
2 - 4 march, 2010<br />
Dubai World Trade Centre - Hall 8<br />
Franchising Middle East Exhibition 2010 (FME) is an exclusive International<br />
event offering an unparalleled opportunity for franchisors to access<br />
entrepreneurs and investors.<br />
For more information, visit www.franchisingme.com<br />
Cabsat mena<br />
2 - 4 march, 2010<br />
Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Dubai<br />
CABSAT MENA is the third largest event in the world and region’s most important<br />
event for the Digital Media industry.<br />
For more information, visit www.cabsat.com<br />
adts aerospace and defense training show<br />
3 - 4 march, 2010<br />
Airport Expo, Dubai<br />
Middle East Aerospace and Defense event experts F&E Aerospace have teamed up with<br />
specialist Simulation and Training information providers Halldale Media, to produce F&E<br />
Aerospace’s upcoming Aerospace and Defense Training Show (ADTS) in Dubai.<br />
For more information, visit www.adts.aero<br />
international plants expo middle east<br />
8 - 10 march, 2010<br />
Airport Expo, Dubai<br />
The region’s largest horticultural exhibition, IPM is an industry platform for<br />
demonstrating the latest developments in horticulture and industry related<br />
technology, maintenance, logistics and sales and promotion and showcasing a<br />
wide variety of flora; including cut flowers, indoor and outdoor plants, ornamental<br />
plants and tree nursery goods.<br />
For more information, visit www.ipm-dubai.net<br />
12 th Global businesswomen and leaders summit<br />
8 march, 2010<br />
Burj <strong>Al</strong> Arab Hotel, Dubai<br />
Celebrating 100 years of International Women’s Day, the 12th Woibex pays tribute<br />
to century of empowering women trailblazers. Woibex brings global business and<br />
government women leaders together in an environment that fosters knowledgebuilding,<br />
connecting them with their peers from around the world to share best practices<br />
on strategic leadership, economic empowerment and sustainable development.<br />
For more information, visit www.woibex.com<br />
dubai international boat show<br />
9 - 13 march, 2010<br />
Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Dubai<br />
DIBS offers exhibitors a platform to showcase their products, supplies and<br />
services to trade buyers as well as private consumers with high purchasing<br />
power from the wealthy Middle East Regional markets as well as the emerging<br />
markets like India, Russia and the CIS.<br />
For more information, visit www.boatshowdubai.com<br />
international abu dhabi diabetes Congress<br />
12 - 14 march, 2010<br />
ADNEC, Abu Dhabi<br />
The event, which includes a high profile conference together with a commercial<br />
exhibition, will bring together experts, internationally recognised speakers and<br />
leading companies in the field of diabetes.<br />
For more information, visit www.iaddc.com/iaddc<br />
dubai lynx - international advertising festival<br />
14 - 16 march, 2010<br />
Dubai Media City, Dubai<br />
The Dubai International Advertising Festival brings together advertising<br />
talent from across the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), as well<br />
as from around the world.<br />
For more information, visit www.dubailynx.com<br />
duphat Conference and exhibition<br />
15 - 17 march, 2010<br />
Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Dubai<br />
The Dubai International Pharmaceuticals and Technologies Conference and<br />
Exhibition has evolved to be one of the most important annual pharmaceutical<br />
events since its inception in 1995.<br />
For more information, visit www.duphat.ae<br />
dubai international rehabilitation forum<br />
15 - 17 march, 2010<br />
Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Dubai<br />
REHAB 2010 will give the Manufacturers, suppliers, traders and distributors of<br />
rehabilitation equipment the chance to reach new markets by exhibiting and<br />
meeting government officials, purchasing officers, decision makers and regional<br />
rehabilitation hospitals, clinics, centres and institutions.<br />
For more information, visit www.rehab.ae<br />
dubai lynx awards<br />
17 march, 2010<br />
Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi<br />
The 4th Dubai Lynx Awards honour and celebrates creative excellence in Print,<br />
Outdoor, TV/Cinema, Radio, Media, Direct & Sales Promotion, Interactive and<br />
Integrated advertising.<br />
For more information, visit www.dubailynx.com<br />
taste of dubai<br />
17 - 20 march, 2010<br />
Dubai Media City, Dubai<br />
Taste of Dubai is one of the must-attend events in the UAE. Last year saw worldfamous<br />
chefs from the city’s most-acclaimed restaurants create a memorable four<br />
days for food lovers by recreating a spectacular array of their star dishes.<br />
For more information, visit www.tasteofdubaifestival.com<br />
7 th leading Ceo summit<br />
21 march, 2010<br />
Burj <strong>Al</strong> Arab Hotel, Dubai<br />
This summit aims to discuss critical issues facing today’s top executives, the<br />
qualities imperative to their success, and the key strategies they need to employ<br />
to put those qualities to use.<br />
For more information, visit www.datamatixgroup.com/conferences<br />
4 th international Quality Congress<br />
22 - 24 march, 2010<br />
Dubai Mall, Downtown Burj Dubai, Dubai<br />
Provides the opportunity to interact with authors of your favourite qualitymanagement<br />
books and features two full days of ground breaking presentations,<br />
interactive workshops, and roundtable discussions.<br />
For more information, visit www.qc.hbmeu.ae<br />
aGra middle east<br />
29 - 31 march, 2010<br />
Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Dubai<br />
AGRAme now hosts five closely linked sectors under the same roof –<br />
Agribusiness, Poultry/Livestock, Fishing/Aquaculture, Floriculture and the<br />
newly launched Machinery/Supplies.<br />
For more information, visit www.agramiddleeast.com<br />
offshore arabia 2010<br />
29 - 31 march, 2010<br />
Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Dubai<br />
Offshore Arabia 2010 will focus on current challenges that we face on a worldwide<br />
scale, such as the impact of the economic crisis on the environment, the oil, gas and<br />
shipping industries and other businesses in general.<br />
For more information, visit www.offshorearabia.ae<br />
arabian power & water summit 2010<br />
29 - 31 march, 2010<br />
Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi<br />
The Arabian Power & Water Summit is an opportunity to meet the key industry<br />
players to discuss and debate the challenges, and the opportunities, that lie ahead.<br />
The Summit is designed to answer the questions you have and help identify the<br />
solutions for your industry.<br />
For more information, visit www.meedconferences.com<br />
38
39<br />
Calendar<br />
CALENDAR CALENDAR<br />
Your guide to what’s coming up.<br />
April Events<br />
dihad<br />
4 - 6 april, 2010<br />
Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Dubai<br />
The overall aim of the Dubai International Humanitarian Aid & Development<br />
Conference is to contribute to the further enhancement of technically sound and<br />
principled international humanitarian and development assistance.<br />
For more information, visit www.dihad.org<br />
imd dubai 2010<br />
4 - 6 april, 2010<br />
Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Dubai<br />
International Medical Care and Diagnostic Conference Dubai is one common<br />
exhibition with three parallel sessions concentrating on Anesthesia, Critical Care,<br />
Emergency and Catastrophe Management.<br />
For more information, visit www.imd.ae<br />
e-health Conference<br />
4 - 5 april, 2010<br />
Dubai Mall, Dubai<br />
The 2nd Annual Conference on “The Environmental Health: Global Perspectives<br />
and Challenges” focuses on three streams related to the understanding, conception<br />
and implementation of Environmental Health-Conceive, Design, Deliver.<br />
For more information, visit www.ehealth.hbmeu.ae<br />
women’s world live-dubai<br />
7 - 10 april, 2010<br />
Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Dubai<br />
Women’s World Live is a new and exciting event especially for the modern woman of<br />
today! From beauty and fashion to lifestyle and wellbeing, this consumer event is set to<br />
show the very latest in beauty treatments, diet plans, styles, exercises, and much more.<br />
For more information, visit www.womensworldme.com<br />
the bride show<br />
7 - 10 april, 2010<br />
Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Dubai<br />
The Bride Show Dubai is the largest and most prestigious wedding and bridal<br />
fashion event in the Middle East! See demonstrations from beauty professionals to<br />
advise you on the latest trends for make-up and hair.<br />
For more information, visit www.thebrideshow.com<br />
the 5 th annual world takaful Conference<br />
12 - 13 april, 2010<br />
Dusit Thani Hotel, Dubai<br />
Sets the stage for industry leaders to chart the future direction of the market,<br />
showcase cutting edge innovations, and also address the key enablers that will<br />
boost growth in the international Takaful market.<br />
For more information, visit www.megaevents.net<br />
international wood and wood products show<br />
13 - 15 april, 2010<br />
Dubai Airport Expo<br />
This exhibition is the platform for wood and wooden products in the Middle East.<br />
www.dubaiwoodshow.com<br />
dubai derma<br />
13 - 14 april, 2010<br />
Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Dubai<br />
Dubai Derma is dedicated to practitioners, specialists, manufacturers and<br />
distributors in the field of dermatology, skin care and skin lasers under the<br />
motto “Skin Health is our Concern”.<br />
For more information, visit www.dubaiderma.com<br />
Gulf education & training exhibition (GeteX)<br />
14 - 17 april, 2010<br />
Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Dubai<br />
GETEX is the largest education fair in the Middle East and Asia. Organised by<br />
International Conferences & Exhibitions LLC (IC&E), GETEX is currently held at<br />
three venues – Dubai (UAE), Bahrain, and Bangalore (India).<br />
For more information, visit www.mygetex.com<br />
Cityscape abu dhabi<br />
18 - 21 april, 2010<br />
ADNEC, Abu Dhabi<br />
Cityscape Abu Dhabi 2010, the International Real Estate Investment and<br />
Development Event, is an outstanding opportunity for the regional and<br />
international real estate community to come together to network, create<br />
joint venture partnerships and discuss the future of real estate.<br />
For more information, visit www.cityscapeabudhabi.com<br />
palme middle east<br />
18 - 21 april, 2010<br />
Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Dubai<br />
Professional Audio, Light, Entertainment, Music and AV Exhibition.<br />
For more information, visit www.palme-middleeast.com<br />
airport show<br />
A N S A R I . N E T<br />
morgenland<br />
25 - 27 april, 2010<br />
Airport Expo Dubai<br />
Airport Show is firmly established as one of the world’s leading events devoted<br />
exclusively to airport construction, operations, technology and services.<br />
For more information, visit www.theairportshow.com<br />
5 th annual GCC nationalisation summit<br />
TM<br />
AUSGABE 76 03.05.2009 Mit TV-Programm vom 08.05.2009 bis 21.05.2009<br />
A N S A R I . N E T<br />
TM<br />
morgenland<br />
magazin<br />
www.morgenland.com 5 AED<br />
<strong>Al</strong> Saheel<br />
Show<br />
Das Magazin für die deutschsprachige Community in Middle East<br />
The magazine for the German speaking community in Middle East<br />
morgenland_76_front_v08.indd 1 05.05.2009 18:33:23<br />
A N S A R I . N E T<br />
New German Press MFZE<br />
Tel: 04 391 3522<br />
marketi ng@morgenland.com<br />
www.morgenland.com<br />
AUSGABE 80 01.11.2009 Mit TV-Programm vom 6.11.2009 bis 19.11.2009<br />
TM<br />
morgenland<br />
magazin<br />
www.morgenland.com 5 AED<br />
Abschiedskonzert<br />
Das Magazin für die deutschsprachige Community in Middle East<br />
The magazine for the German speaking community in Middle East<br />
morgenland_80_18.indd 1 02.11.2009 11:35:14<br />
AUSGABE 77 17.05.2009 Mit TV-Programm vom 22.05.2009 bis 04.06.2009<br />
morgenland<br />
magazin<br />
18 - 21 april, 2010<br />
Dubai<br />
The 5th Annual GCC Nationalisation Summit 2010 will address the challenges of<br />
Nationalisation, including attracting, recruiting, retaining and developing nationals<br />
in the private and public sectors<br />
For more information, visit www.gccnationalisation.com<br />
A N S A R I . N E T<br />
TM<br />
Dubai Fountain<br />
magazin<br />
www.morgenland.com 5 AED<br />
Das Magazin für die deutschsprachige Community in Middle East<br />
The magazine for the German speaking community in Middle East<br />
morgenland_77_13.indd 1 19.05.2009 18:13:01<br />
AUSGABE 81 15.11.2009 Mit TV-Programm vom 20.11.2009 bis 03.12.2009<br />
A N S A R I . N E T<br />
TM<br />
morgenland<br />
magazin<br />
www.morgenland.com 5 AED<br />
Sankt Martin<br />
Das Magazin für die deutschsprachige Community in Middle East<br />
The magazine for the German speaking community in Middle East<br />
morgenland_81_21.indd 1 16.11.2009 12:16:15<br />
AUSGABE 78 04.10.2009 Mit TV-Programm vom 09.10.2009 bis 22.10.2009<br />
A N S A R I . N E T<br />
TM<br />
morgenland<br />
magazin<br />
www.morgenland.com 5 AED<br />
DUBAI METRO<br />
Das Magazin für die deutschsprachige Community in Middle East<br />
The magazine for the German speaking community in Middle East<br />
morgenland_78_24.indd 1 06.10.2009 23:00:05<br />
AUSGABE 82 29.11.2009 Mit TV-Programm vom 4.12.2009 bis 17.12.2009<br />
A N S A R I . N E T<br />
TM<br />
morgenland<br />
magazin<br />
www.morgenland.com 5 AED<br />
DUBAI<br />
AIR-SHOW<br />
2009<br />
Das Magazin für die deutschsprachige Community in Middle East<br />
The magazine for the German-speaking community in Middle East<br />
morgenland_82_18.indd 1 29.11.2009 13:31:43<br />
ALLE 14 TAGE<br />
EVERY 14 DAYS<br />
AUSGABE 79 18.10.2009 Mit TV-Programm vom 23.10.2009 bis 05.11.2009<br />
A N S A R I . N E T<br />
TM<br />
morgenland<br />
magazin<br />
www.morgenland.com 5 AED<br />
KNAPPENKIDS-CAMP<br />
IN DUBAI<br />
Das Magazin für die deutschsprachige Community in Middle East<br />
The magazine for the German speaking community in Middle East<br />
morgenland_79_21.indd 1 19.10.2009 09:20:53<br />
AUSGABE 83 13.12.2009 Mit TV-Programm vom 18.12.2009 bis 31.12.2009<br />
A N S A R I . N E T<br />
TM<br />
morgenland<br />
magazin<br />
www.morgenland.com 5 AED<br />
WEIHNACHTEN<br />
Das Magazin für die deutschsprachige Community in Middle East<br />
The magazine for the German-speaking community in Middle East<br />
morgenland_83_21.indd 1 13.12.2009 23:00:08<br />
Das Magazin für die deutschsprachige Community in Middle East<br />
The magazine for the German speaking community in Middle East<br />
morgenland_artwork.indd 1 16.12.2009 17:10:31<br />
r a k f r e e t r a d e z o n e b i - m o n t h ly n e w s l e t t e r JAN/FEB 2010 NO3<br />
Kids Zone<br />
<strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong>’S NURSERY<br />
AND ACTIVITY CENTRE<br />
where kids are kings and queens<br />
Litana Group | 4 <strong>RAK</strong> <strong>FTZ</strong> Wins Best Website Award | 5<br />
Golf and Networking Event | 15 <strong>RAK</strong> Half Marathon | 23<br />
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