Samuel Wendel is a journalist covering business and financial news in the Middle East and North Africa. He has extensive experience reporting on key industries and markets, including profiling a variety of influential business leaders and rising entrepreneurs in the region.
Dubai has announced it will build the Middle East's first free zone for e-commerce, named Dubai CommerCity. The 2.1 million project is a joint venture between the Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority and Wasl Asset Management. The zone covers $740m sq ft and will be based near Dubai airport in Umm Ramool. The space will feature office buildings, retail areas and logistics facilities. It is hoped the initiative will attract foreign direct investment from e-commerce companies in areas such as logistics, electronic payments and IT that want to expand into the Middle East and south Asia.