Having a built-up area of around 50 lakh sq. ft, Dubai Outsourcing Zone is all set to start its initial phase of operations in the second quarter of the 2006 fiscal, Ismail Al Naqi, DOZ director said while announcing the appointment of IT-People (India) Ltd as its exclusive partner for India.
"The initial phase will cover around 9,00,000 sq ft area, while the second round of operations with more than two million sq. ft area would start within the next three years entailing an investment of $90 million," he said.
The total operation of the DOZ involving investment of around $200 million would start around 2015 with more than 200 companies operating in it, he said.
"We expect more than 60 Indian companies to set up bases in DOZ and one lakh knowledge workers to be employed in the area," he said.
DOZ would initially woo US, UK and German IT companies to start operations in the zone, apart from their Indian counterparts, he said.
Including domestic companies, more than 60 leading offshore and onshore companies have expressed interest in establishing facilities in DOZ, Naqi claimed.
DOZ, Naqi said, would offer 100 per cent exemption from taxes, world-class technology and communications infrastructure, a one-stop of support services and the best possible working environment to the aspiring IT companies from abroad willing to start operations.
"Located adjacent to the academic city, DOZ provides direct access to a strong talent pool of knowledge workers," he added. In order to keep the attrition rate at low ebb, DOZ would not allow a single employee to leave one organisation without showing a valid cause, he said.
The government, he said, would also allow women to work in night shifts at DOZ as well.
Stating that both domestic companies and companies from abroad equally treated, he said, DOZ would target to grab a five per cent share of the global outsourcing industry.