Free Zone of the Future Program Launched at World Free Zones Organization’s second Annual International Conference and Exhibition
World Free Zones Organization (World FZO) today launched the ‘Free Zone of the Future Program’ on day two of its 2nd Annual International Conference and Exhibition currently underway in Dubai.
The Free Zone of the Future Program is an international initiative revolving around three main pillars that will enable free zones around the world to contribute to a secure and sustainable future. The pillars constituting the program are: excellence and best practices, innovation and entrepreneurship, and sustainability. Each pillar contains components to help determine the tools and resources required for facilitating the program to achieve its long term objectives.
The conference drew government officials, policy makers, global economic experts and academics into a series of panels followed by a strategic workshop. The first panel of the day discussed Governance in Global Value Chains (GVCs) and focused on the evolution of Global Value Chains in an increasingly interdependent world.
This was followed by a panel that examined global free zone challenges, and the implications of various policies and incentives that impact investment and operations in free zones around the world.
The final panel of the day focused on GVCs from a multinational corporation perspective, and discussed the significant role played by MNCs in the rise of such global production networks as they seek locational advantages to match their specific needs.
Following the panels, participants attended a workshop that provided an overview of the “Smart” World Free Zone Readiness Roadmap. The workshop aimed to help current and new world free zones assess their readiness to innovate and leverage state of the art technology for creating a model of stakeholder engagement and establishing best in class standards for free zones.
The three day conference and exhibition will conclude on May 11, following the World FZO General Assembly.
