New window for foreign firms

Lower costs and faster turnaround times to be the attractive lures

Finland's Almaco Group is looking forward to tax exemptions and other benefits as one of the first batch of 25 companies to obtain a license to set up a branch in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, which officially opened on Sept 29.

It took the group, which provides products and services for cruise ships, offshore units and other accommodation vessels from Finland, three weeks to receive the license after submitting all the necessary documents. Outside the FTZ, the same process usually takes about two months on the mainland.