The Sharjah Consultative Council, in its final session of the year on Thursday, made several recommendations for improving services to the zones. "Our challenge is to come up with a strategy that will attract foreign investments to support the local economy of the emirate of Sharjah and the economy of the UAE,” said Taryam Mattar Taryam, director general of Sharjah Free Zones.

The Sharjah Free Zones includes 440 aviation companies, 2,434 trading companies, 413 industrial companies and 1,429 service companies on a total area of 6.2 million square metres. "We want the free zones investments to reach Dh2.1 billion. By the end of this year, we'll make it to Dh1.6bn,” Taryam said. The official added that Dh1.2bn of the investments were made in areas near the airport, accounting for "34 per cent of the total income of the free zones last year”. Sharjah Free Zones has leased a further 395 warehouses that were still awaiting electricity.

Taryam also addressed a concern among some council members that Arabic was not being used enough in the zones, saying that 97 per cent of the 201 administrators were Emiratis. Sharjah Free Zones was also able to prevent any labour unrest by ensuring that workers were paid on time and had quality accommodations, he added.