SEZ Alabuga was among the standout performers in fDi's inaugural Global Free Zones of the Year 2014 awards, receiving an accolade that was awarded to only a handful of zones in Europe and less than two dozen worldwide.

The Tatarstan-based zone was awarded an Honourable Mention for Europe, along with three other zones. These awards note overall excellence in all categories considered by the judges. Bespoke awards were offered to other zones, which were noted for individual initiatives or excellence in specific categories.

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fDi’s Global Free Zones of the Year Awards 2014, which replace fDi’s previous biennial Global Free Zones of the Future rankings, acknowledge the most promising free zones across the world at this time. For this year’s awards, fDi invited free zones, government entities and investment promotion bodies to complete a short survey detailing their zone’s attractiveness, facilities and incentives offered to investors. A panel of judges from fDi was appointed and studied each location. Free zones were then ranked within their region, and each region was presented with ‘Best Zone for Large Tenants’ and ‘Best Zone for SMEs’ awards. In addition to the overall winners, other zones considered particularly outstanding have been acknowledged with honourable mentions and, in other cases, bespoke awards.

Winners were selected based on their performance compared with others in their region over the past year. Elements such as percentage increase in tenants, growth of the zone in the past year and implementation of new incentives that have given the zone a competitive edge were all key criteria.

SEZ Alabuga saw a 34% increase in occupied space between 2012 and 2013. The zone attracts mainly larger tenants, with 98% of the zone’s clients falling into this category. As the largest industrial special economic zone in Russia, SEZ Alabuga counts automotive giants such as Ford, as well as US-based technology company 3M and France-based chemical giant Air Liquide among its clients. To date, investments in completed projects in the zone have amounted to $3bn.

In addition to the industrial parks at the zone, SEZ Alabuga will soon be home to the Tri Medvedya complex, which will contain an International Baccalaureate school for children of the tenants, as well as a cottage settlement for managers in the zone, an apartment complex for specialists and a sports complex. This will make the zone a popular destination in which to live and work.

"In these awards, SEZ Alabuga is clearly rated as one of the very best zones in Europe – and quite clearly within the top 10 zones in the region, if one considers the small pool of winners at this level. Globally, there were only 18 zones who were awarded either overall regional winner awards or Honourable Mention awards. So that places SEZ Alabuga in the top 20 best zones in the world, according to these awards," commented fDi Magazine's editor-in-chief Courtney Fingar.

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