Assembled online with the Chairman and members of the Board of the World Free Zones Organization (World FZO), 37 entities signed on recently as volunteer contact points in their respective countries to help the World FZO spread knowledge of free zone best practices and World FZO solutions farther across the globe.
The more than 3,000 free zones around the world channel a third of global trade and employ almost 70 million people. They cater to multiple industries and form a complex web of trade hubs and specialized industry platforms that connect together along Global Value Chains. The World FZO was created to help these free zones network with each other and access best industry practices through tailored tools and instruments. It has done this with a combination of regular events and physical presence in 10 countries through regional offices. Today, this physical presence has been extended four-fold through 37 National Contact Points (NCPs).Dr. Mohammed Alzarooni, Chairperson of the World FZO, explains that “this is an important role at the national level and in collaboration with our regional offices and Ambassadors, that will help further strengthen the global impact of our work.”
The World FZO selects its NCPs based on their industry experience, professional reputation, contact network, and time availability for the task at hand. As defined in the World FZO charter, an NCP is anorganization or person appointed for a particular country to act as the focal point for the information exchange and flow between the World FZO and the free zone ecosystem in a given country. The NCPsprimary role will be support in collection of data for case studies and country; development and coordination oflocal training seminars and facilitation of several stakeholder surveys. In addition to this key activities, the NCP will also assist with database building, regional events and networking list to further the World FZO’s knowledge management function. Each NCP is appointed for a term of one year, renewable thereafter.
Dr. Alzarooni states that, “in this rapidly changing landscape, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we realize the importance of helping our community build resilience so that we all may emerge from this crisis stronger, better structured, and more prepared to handle the next set of challenges.” Having a global network of NCPs, regional offices and Ambassadors enables the World FZO to better help free zones across the world transform and adapt to new trade conditions brought along by this crisis.
The 37 NCPs represent the following countries: Afghanistan, Argentina, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Gabon, Ghana, Georgia, Haiti, India (2), Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Palestine, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, Serbia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Uruguay.
