Sri Lanka plans to set up a free economic zone near the international airport similar in concept to Dubai Airport Freezone in a bid to attract more foreign investments, said a senior Lankan official.

GS Withanage, additional secretary-aviation, Ministry of Ports & Aviation said, 'We have selected Dubai Airport Freezone to be our model as we know the quality of services and facilities provided by the freezone has attracted more than 1450 companies today.'

Withanage led a high level delegation from the Ministry of  Ports and Aviation to the Dubai Airport Freezone to get a taste of the advanced services and facilities the freezone provides to its customers.

The members plan to apply what they learn in the planned economic zone at Sri Lanka's Hambantota international airport which is expected to be completed in the near future.

“We wanted to benefit from the experience of Dubai Airport Freezone and its ability to overcome the obstacles and reach this high level of services that meet the customers' requirements,” he added.

The visiting delegation was welcomed by Nasser Al Madani, assistant director general of Dubai Airport Freezone and a number of executives.

Al Madani said that the positive reputation of Dubai Airport Freezone in the region had reached far and wide with other countries seeking to learn from Dubai’s experience.

'Dubai Airport Freezone is honoured to share their knowledge and experiences to other countries planning to build major development projects that will benefit the international economy as a whole,' he remarked.

In early February, a delegation from Tajikistan visited Dubai Airport Freezone to seek advice from Freezone officials and signed an MoU.

Al Madani pointed out that Dubai Airport Freezone was one of the fastest growing zones in the world according to statistics of 'FDI' magazine. 'It has become a good model for many companies and countries seeking to set up free economic Freezone in their areas, he added.-TradeArabia News Service