DUBAI: The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) and the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) have announced that 22 new industrial licenses have been introduced with a total investment of AED 286 million to ensure the success of the Basic Industries Project.
Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of the Department, said that the Basic Industries Project contributes to the self-sufficiency of the industrial commodities across Abu Dhabi, and promotes the fields of local industrial investment within key sectors, including medical, food and electrical, steel, aluminum and cement.
The aim is to achieve the self-sufficiency of the emirate in terms of basic and the most commonly consumed commodities at the local level.
A report issued by the IDB said seven licenses specialized in food industries with a total investment of AED 9.8 million, six in medical industries with AED 261.8 million and nine in the electrical industries sector with AED 14.8 million.
The IDB’s report also stated that Abu Dhabi Medical Supplies Company has signed two agreements with Rafed Company to supply ventilator-related injections and medical consumables with a total value of AED3.2 million.
Furthermore, it added that as part of the efforts of the provision of raw materials, Abu Dhabi Medical Devices Company has coordinated with Borouge Company to provide the plastic raw materials for local medical use, in order to manufacture medical injections with a total investment of AED94.28 million. This coordination will raise the production capacity to 11 percent as of July 2021, with a total monthly volume of 61 million injections.
Al Shorafa stated that the Industrial Development Bureau seeks to add 50 new local industrial facilities over the next three years to contribute to achieving self-sufficiency in many targeted industrial fields including medical, food and electrical industries.
He said ADDED has identified 725 industrial activities that are available for 100 percent foreign ownership, which in turn contributes to attracting further foreign direct investments in the industrial fields targeted by the project.
He also highlighted the role of the Department of Health, Department of Energy, Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, as well as Rafed for Collective Purchasing to enhance the efforts of the Department represented in the IDB to achieve the objectives of the basic industries project. He also stated that the manufacturing industries in Abu Dhabi have spurred the growth rate to 4.8 percent and raising the share of the non-oil GDP by 13 percent at the end of 2020, according to Statistics Centre-Abu Dhabi.