The cost of doing business on the rise

Nothing new there. However, what's new is that companies are starting to consider moving out of Jebel Ali Free Zone, DMC, DIC, etc. JAFZA routinely fines companies for the silliest of reasons and continuously increases fees to services. Generally this follows a trend in Dubai, but for companies who opened up in JAFZA, they are turning into a list of reason for re-allocation.

Interestingly, Dubai Media City have recently started sending one of their people around to companies to develop a better understanding of what they do and how DMC can help become.. well, what it was originally designed to be. They are at the very least aware that DMC is a landlord to the companies operating there. They are not really 'Business Partners' as they claim. There is no real community between companies. No communication. The DMC directory is not updated and it takes over 5 calls to get them to add the right numbers. Yes, this has actually been the case.

So, if anything, when comparing JAFZA and DMC, I would say DMC is showing a sincere interest in trying to do things right. JAFZA on the other hand couldn't care less. Companies are starting to look at Dubai proper. This is especially true as rules related to 100% foreign ownership are starting to relax. JAFZA is losing its competitive advantage and their management are on vacation.