Mesratha Free Trade Zone (MFTZ)

The name Mesratha is sometimes spelt as Misurata, Mesrata, Mesratha, Musrata and Musratha.  Musrata is the name used by the Libyan Tourism Board. The /s/ and the /t/, in Musrata, are both emphatic sounds (Mes'rat'a). The present form of the name, Mesratha, according to some sources, comes from the name of the tribe that settled the area. The original settlement of Mesratha goes back to the time of the Phoenicians (about 1000 BC) and probably before that. Mesratha's ancient name was Tobakt, which considering the location of /t/ at the beginning and the end of the name, one can easily deduce its Berber origin. In fact Mesratha itself was a Berber settlement until about 200 years ago.

The Mesratha Free Trade Zone was created by the General People's Committee as set in Law 495 of year 2000,   and was amended by Law 32 of year 2006. The zone is currently occupying 430 hectares including a portion of the Port of Mesratha. On January 16th, 2006, Lyamec (The Libyan American Corporation) has formally received the approval of Mesratha free trade zone to establish a 24,000 sq. ft. manufacturing and distribution facility in Mesratha.

Arabic Copies of Law 32 of year 2006

To view larger images of Law 32 of year 2006 in Arabic, please click on this link

To view larger images of Law 32 of year 2006 in Arabic, please click on this link

To view larger images of Law 32 of year 2006 in Arabic, please click on this link