Techy zone developers woo tenants in Dubai

(CNS): The developers proposing a special technology zone somewhere on Grand Cayman say they recently met with potential tenants in Dubai but have not yet revealed if any have committed to setting up shop in the Cayman Islands. Hon’s CEO Jason Blick said the delegation received a positive response during their visit to the Middle East where they toured several of the UAE Economic Zones including the Dubai International Financial Centre, Media City, Internet City and the Multi Commodities Centre. The developers said they were spurred on by the trip to press ahead with the $3milllion investment in Cayman’s first enterprise zone.

“We met with global giants including Xerox, Johnson & Johnson, Oracle, Cisco and Hewlett Packard and I am excited that representatives of thesegroups were keen to discuss opportunities in Cayman Enterprise City. We are truly building a third pillar for the economy of the Cayman Islands,” Blick said.

Blick spent 10 years in the United Arab Emirates and used his past contacts to set up a two-day whirlwind schedule of meetings with high level officials, the developers said in a release.

Barry G. Hon Chairman of CEC said having seen the success of the Economic Zones in Dubai they had returned to Cayman with the enthusiasm and drive of the developers who first pioneered those zone.

“We are definitively committed to forging ahead with our investment of $300,000,000.00 into the Cayman Islands to make the CEC Economic Zone project a reality,” Hon added.

The CEC officials said they were especially impressed with how Dubai Internet City developed from a sandy waste land to a prosperous, thriving economic hub in ten short years. When plans for Dubai Internet City were first announced in the late eighties, the Hon team said, skeptics were not convinced that it would become a reality, let alone evolve into the economic powerhouse that today contributes substantially to Dubai’s GDP.

The primary goal of the visit was to promote the Cayman Islands as a jurisdiction and offer opportunities for global brands in the UAE zones to establish a presence in Cayman Enterprise City, which would expand their reach into lucrative markets in North American and Latin American, the delegates said.

CEC officials said they are also exploring ways for companies based who will be based in Cayman’s zone to broaden their reach into Europe and the Middle East through an affiliation with the UAE zones.

Cayman’s proposed Special Economic Zone is to be constructed by a privately-held development group. The developers say it will be a 500,000 sq ft state-of-the-art campus of innovative and sustainable architecture and designed to complement and respect the local environment. It will include Cayman Internet Park, Cayman Biotech Park, Cayman Media Park, Cayman Global Commodities Park and Cayman International Academic.