A Dh130 million ($35 million) "Textile Village" is to be set up on five million square feet of land allocated by the Dubai government in the emirate's Ras Al Khor area. Construction will begin by the end of summer with completion expected in another 18 months.
Provision has been made for further investments in the project beyond the initial outlay of Dh130 million which does not include the cost of land, which was given free.
The Textile Merchants Group (Texmas) will provide the capital outlay, group honorary chairman Jhaman Asnani said.
The current membership at Texmas is just under 300. The village is planned to accommodate 295 showrooms and stores available in sizes 2,500, 5,000 and 10,000 square feet and will operate under laws governing free zones.
According to estimates, the textiles trade in Dubai will continue to record strong growth in coming years to average between Dh15-17 billion a year.
The current size of the industry is valued at Dh12 billion. Dubai's overall textiles exports in 1999 were valued at Dh902 million, while imports were worth Dh9.3 billion. Re-exports during the same period were Dh2.9 billion.
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, chief executive of Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corp, said the textile trade had witnessed tremendous growth during the last few years.
"Many traders prefer to trade with Dubai for many reasons, including availability of strategic stocks, competitive prices and quality of the products.
"The Textile Village will not have a negative effect on the textiles business in other locations in the emirate as it is basically allocated for traders and importers," he said.
The retail textile trade in the emirate is estimated at Dh300 million. The growth rate ranges between 9 and 19 per cent.
Sulayem said his corporation would have a special office at the facility to provide basic functions such as providing customs data and facilitating procedures relating to fees, exemptions and storage.
The Textile Village will feature advanced communication networks and utility systems and a special office will be dedicated to the functioning of the Dubai Textile Group.
