Dubai: Somaliland, an autonomous region in the Horn of Africa, wants to replicate the “Dubai model” in a bid to attract foreign investment, develop infrastructure and generate employment opportunities.

“We are looking at … building free zones like Jebel Ali. We have already created a tax regime that reduce tax on foreign investment … In many ways we are looking up to the Dubai model of business promotion, ” Mohammad A. Omar, Minister of Commerce & Foreign Investment, told Gulf News.

Omar was on a visit to the UAE last week where he met with representatives from both the local private and public sector in effort to boost Somaliland’s credentials on international development.

Located in East Africa, along the Gulf of Aden, Somaliland shares its borders with Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia but is not a country in its own right. In 1991 Somaliland declared independence from Somalia but has struggled to gain international recognition. The majority-Muslim African country has its own government, military, policy, currency and even passport; though the latter two are recognised by very few countries, if any.