Zwara Free Trade Zone ( ZFTZ)

Law   (215) of   2006, passed by the Libyan General People's Committe, details the creation of Zwara-Abu-Kemmash Free Trade Zone. A new government department, known as The Zwara-Abu-Kemmash Development Zone, was formed to develop the   region as a tourism and investment zone.   Al-Saa'di al-Qaddafi, the chairman of the Zwara-Abu-Kemmash Development Zone and the son of the Libyan leader Mua'mmar al-Qaddafi, has promised to improve Libya's economic progress by building the Free Trade Zone in Zwara and bring the country out of its economic isolation. The area was chosen for the beauty of its beaches - the best in the whole of Libya - and for its proximity to Tunisia and Europe. During Tunisia's president Zine al-Abidine's recent visit to Libya, Tunisia and Libya have agreed to set up a free trade zone between the two countries including a tourist village on the border.

This photo was taken from www.ameinfo.com. Pictured is Mr Mohamed Ali Alabbar (right) and Engineer al-Saa'di al-Qaddafi (left) at the signing of the MoU.

 

Mr Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Chairman, Emaar Properties , and engineer al-Saa'di al-Qaddafi, Chairman of Zwara-Abu Kemmash Development Zone, have recently signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the presence of Libyan senior officials and representatives from Emaar. The joint venture company will act as the main developer of Phase 1 of the Zwara-Abu Kemmash Free Zone. The company is currently finalizing its master-plan proposals submitted by three US firms and a Singaporean company, and preparations for work have already begun on a stretch of land, along the Mediterranean coast between Zwara and Farwa (an offshore island near Abu-Kemmash, close to the Tunisian border).   The project, said to be the largest in Emaar’s global mega-project portfolio, and will include various residential, educational, leisure and entertainment components and will   have its own independent regulations, courts, ports and airports, as well as its own (new) laws, designed to stimulate investment in the free zone, like tax exemptions and concessions, offshore banking and the introduction of a liberal social regime allowing a variety of faiths and lifestyles.

 

The Name Zwara

Please note that the name Zwara is often written in various forms, which although are not totally dissimilar, are nonetheless confusing when running search queries in the Internet or in library catalogues. There are several reasons for this, like dialectical differences and the lack of dictionaries.

• Zwara : this form is generally used (only in writing) by the natives of Zwara, who call their town " Tamort " .
• Zowara , Zuwara and Zouara : these forms are generally used by the rest of the Libyans, and written in Arabic as:    
• Zuwarah and Zowarah : generally used internationally, by writers, Google, Encyclopedia Britannica, etc., in their effort to directly translate how the word is written in Arabic, although the /h/ (which is written as /t/ in Arabic) at the end of the word is not pronounced in Libya. This problem is not limited to one or two words, but it applies to most names, like Abu-Kemmash, Musrata, Jamahiriya, Tuareg, etc; recalling the era of Shakespeare in England before the invention of the English dictionary, when everyone wrote English as they pleased. This means that you will get better results from Google, and the other search engines, if you type all the above forms in the same search box. For instance, Zwara-Abu-Kemmash is also found as Zowara-Abou-Kemash, or Zuwarah-Abu-Kammash.

 

Does Zwara Oppose Zwara Free Trade Zone?

The Libyan site tawalt.com has published a copy of an "appeal for help" which opposes the creation of Zwara Free Trade Zone, on the grounds that the authority of the Development Zone, under its chairmanship of al-Saa'di al-Qaddafi, will confiscate land and farms from the local inhabitants of Zwara City. Such, small, opposition did, however, exist in Zwara and even justifiable on those aforementioned grounds. But according to other source the local people will be offered a choice of either to rent or sell their land. The Libyan principles of democracy, as overseen by the General People's Committee, do not accommodate squatting, and in fact even the property of foreign investors within the zone is immuned to nationalisation, dispossession and confiscation as stated by the GPC's law governing the Libyan free zones. If some decide to break the convention, then the Libyan people, who decide all the laws regarding anything including the free zones, will not approve it and will certainly rule against it.   These fears may have had their origin in what happened in Libya before, when land and property were confiscated. These decisions were reversed recently and several laws have been passed by the GPC to compensate the previous owners. As for the danger posed by such large projects to the local native culture of the Berbers, one can argue for the benefits the free zone will bring to this culture, as having global exposure, economical power, and a platform to introduce Berber language, art, music and heritage into the services provided within the zone. Many investors will certainly need translation services to deal with the local people. According to Article 11 of Law (215) of 2006 (see below), " English and other languages can be used in addition to Arabic inside the free zone " . Life there will be more like life outside. It will be multilingual and most religions will be practiced freely. It will be very similar to New York, Monte Carlo and Hong Kong. The people of Zwara have a unique opportunity to exercise their basic human rights via the free zone. Staying behind, and in darkness, does not do anyone any good and will only make matters worse.

Libyan Law   (215) of 2006 Establishing The Zwara Free Trade Zone

The Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

The General People's Committee

The Decision of the General People's Committee

Number (215) Year 1374 (2006 AD)

After considering Law (1) of year 1369 W.R., and the Libyan commercial law, and the Libyan marine law, and Law (65) of year 1970, and Law (81) of year 1970, and customs Law (67) of year 1972, and Law (16) of year 1991, and Law (5) of year 1426 M., and Law (9) of year 1430 M., and Law (3) of year 1369 W.R.,   and Law (7) of year 1372 W.R., and the General Committee's Decree (14) of year 1374 W.R., and what has been decreed by the General People's Committee in its second meeting of year 1374 W.R., and after the approval of the General People's Committee during its 27th meeting of year 1374, it was decided :

Article (1) : Establishing a special area by the name of ( Zwara-Abu-Kemmash Development Zone ) (which must include the Island of Farwa), with its location and borders as illustrated in the drawing accompanying this decree, and with a specified working period of no less than (99) years, renewable by a decision from the General People's Committee.

Article (2) : The zone enjoys its own identity and financial independence, and can legislate within the boundaries of Libyan law.

Article (3) : The goals of the administrative committee of the zone include advertising and marketing advanced architectural and developmental projects; the creation of a tourist and industrial environment; various investment and commercial activities; and encouraging transit trade and goods exchange operations according to the needs of the market. The administration of the zone will also work towards providing banking, insurance and investment services as well as other services, and towards employing and developing the technology and the knowledge needed to establish an advanced foundation which will contribute towards developing commercial and trade services to support and develop the national economy of the country.

Article (4) : The Development Zone will work to establish the necessary services and structures needed to initiate its operations, such as general services, housing, health, security, safety, education, tourism, commerce, industry and culture.

Article (5) : To achieve its objectives, the Development Zone is authorised to issue all   the necessary decisions, manage its own administration and finance, encourage and advertise the creation of the foundations, companies, banks, factories, services and   provide employment and other activities relating to the zone. The zone has the right of ownership of the capital and property needed to to achieve its purposes.

Article (6) : The Zone will be run by an administration formed by a decision from The General People's Committee, and this administration will then run and develop the zone according to the principles laid for the free zone.

Article (7) : The administrative committee of the zone will have complete authority and responsibility to run the entire affairs of the zone, and supervise and guide all the other working institutions within the zone, especially:

• laying the general strategy, plans and regulations to regulate the activities   and the goals of the zone;
• studying the laws and legislation regarding investment and suggesting improvements;
• laying rules for renting land and property, for granting licenses and permits for investment and establishing services and industrial and commercial projects;
• preparing financial estimates needed to study and implement the underlying environment, building the essential services, the cost of advertising and marketing until work commences;
• implementing procedures to issue entry, exit and residence permits according to the needs of the situation;
• agreeing to granting mortgages and investment partnership with other parties;
• implementing special procedures relating to insurance, social security, and health amenities to the zone's residents, investors and workers;
• approving contracts and agreements struck with local and foreign bodies;
• implementing training programs for the zone's workers; undertaking all that is needed to protect the zone's capital and property and guarantee   the fulfillment of its goals;
• and establishing companies within the zone relating to its activities and decreeing the necessary regulations and procedure for their activities according to the law.

The administrative committee is authorised to proxy the head of the committee with some of these responsibilities, or to form, from within its current members, a new committee or more than one committee to see to some of these responsibilities.

Article (8) : The administrative committee of the zone will implement the necessary preparations for its own custom, security and immigration laws, decreed by the General People's Committee.

Article (9) : The administrative committee shall prepare an internal policy to illustrate its strategy, working procedures and meeting agendas.

Article (10) : The zone, its residents and those who invested in the zone enjoy all the advantages and privileges decreed in Law (9) of year 1430 M. regarding the organisation of transit commerce and free trade zones, and Law (5) of year 1426   M. regarding the promotion to encourage foreign investment in Libya, and Law (7) of 1372 W.R. regarding tourism.

Article (11) : It is allowed to use English language as well as other languages, in addition to Arabic, in all the dealings of the free trade zone.

Article (12) : The zone will have a seaport and an airport which can be utilised nationally and internationally.

Article (13) : The monetary capital and earnings of the zone will come from:

• local and foreign investors' money
• the national budgets set aside for the zone
• internal and external mortgages
• income from the zone's operations and activities
• income from investment returns of the zone's capital
• any other incomes resulting from the licensed activities within the zone.

Article (14) : Administrative, financial and organisational protocols and procedures relating to work, motivation and salaries will   be decreed by the General People's Committee according to proposals submitted by the administrative committee of the zone.

Article (15) : This decree (or decision) is effective from the date of its issue, and all the concerned bodies should implement it, and be published in the archive.

The General People's Committee

Issued on 19 Sha'ban

09/06/2006

[End of Document]

[Translated by Temehu.com]

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The above translation is based on the following copy of the Libyan GPS's Decree 215

Arabic Copies of the Law

To view large images of Law 215 of year 2006 in Arabic, please click here

To view large images of Law 215 of year 2006 in Arabic, please click here

To view large images of Law 215 of year 2006 in Arabic, please click here

Links Relating to the Zowara-Abou Kemash Development Zone:

Emaar
Emaar signs MoU to develop Libyan special zone
Tripoli, Libya,
November 13, 2006:
"Global real estate major Emaar Properties has further expanded its geographic reach in North Africa by joining hands with Libya’s leading development zone, the Zowara-Abou Kemash, to set up a joint venture company in the country . . . read more

FT.com
Financial Times:
North Africa: Rush to build slows as squeeze tightens
By Heba Saleh
Monday Nov 24 2008 12:15
"Investment bankers say the current financial crisis is likely to force the scaling down of some of these mega-projects but . . . Another Emaar project in Libya, the Zowara-Abu Kemash Development Zone, is also reported to have been delayed while details are worked out . . . read more

GPS
The General People's Committee
For more information and other related laws, please visit the official web site of the Libyan General People's Committee. The site is in Arabic.