In honour of the 30th birthday of Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) earlier this year, we have rounded up 13 fascinating facts about the UAE’s largest trade and logistics hub.

1. Jafza started out as a base for just 19 companies – it is now home to over 7,000 businesses.
    
2. Today Jafza is home to businesses from over 100 countries.
    
3. There are over 144,000 jobs at Jazfa.
    
4. It attracts more than 32 percent of the UAE’s foreign direct investment.
    
5. The value for trade at Jafza is $87.6 billion.
    
6. Back in 2007 Jafza commissioned the largest customer relationship management (CRM) system in the region, processing close to a million transactions a year.
    
7. An automated e-Gate system has just been introduced at the zone’s security gates, to help reduce queues ahead of Dubai Expo 2020.
    
8. Jafza contributes over 21 percent of Dubai’s GDP.
    
9. It is home to more than 230 Chinese companies from sectors ranging from electronics to automotive.
    
10. There are over 800 Indian companies in Jafza.
     
11. The workforce at Jafza rose by 8.5 percent in 2015.
     
12. Jafza is currently implementing a sustainable retrofit project to reduce the energy consumption of its buildings and facilities by 30 percent.
     
13. There is on-site accommodation for staff within the free zone with more than 10,000 rooms with occupancy rates reaching almost 99 percent. A new complex consisting of 30 buildings, each with 10 floors is planned, able to house an additional 30,000 employees with restaurants, retail stores and recreational areas.

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Read the August 2016 issue of Business Review Middle East magazine