Abu Dhabi to host 'Make it in the Emirates' Forum next week

Event will play up local industrial sector opportunities and is expected to attract more than 1,300 investors

An operator cuts through a sheet of carbon fibre at Strata's factory in Al Ain. The UAE is boosting its local industrial sector. Reuters

Abu Dhabi will host the “Make it in the Emirates” Forum on June 21 and June 22 as part of the UAE's plans to boost the local industrial sector.

The event will provide an “important platform for presenting local investment opportunities in the industrial sector”, a key enabler of the UAE’s economic diversification efforts, the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology said on Wednesday.

The event is being hosted by the ministry, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (Added), under the theme “Invest, Partner, Grow”.

More than 1,300 representatives from investment companies, financial institutions, national companies and public sector entities will participate in the forum.

Major national companies will present “billions of dirhams of investment opportunities in various fields, including defence, petrochemicals, metals, electrical appliances and equipment, rubber and plastics, pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, among others”, the ministry said.

Government entities will also provide incentives such as significant access to capital financing with flexible repayment terms, low interest rates and other financial solutions.

A number of commercial agreements and industrial partnerships will be signed at the event, the ministry said.

The UAE seeks to widen the contribution of its non-oil sector and boost its local industrial sector.

Business activity in the UAE's non-oil private sector economy recorded its highest reading for the year in May as output and new orders rose to 55.6 in May, from 54.6 in April, amid rising client demand.

The latest reading signals one of the strongest improvements in the health of the non-oil economy in the past three years.

Last year, the UAE launched the Operation 300bn strategy to increase the sector's contribution to the country's gross domestic product to Dh300 billion ($81.6bn) by 2031, from Dh133bn in 2021.

As part of the strategy, it also unveiled the “Make it in the Emirates” campaign to support the local manufacturing industry.

The ministry, which is driving the country's industrial strategy, also has launched the national In-Country Value Programme, which has redirected more than Dh41bn to the national economy during its first year.

The “Make it in the Emirates” forum next week will include sessions focusing on topics such as investment opportunities in the industrial sector, expected demand for products and services, and the future of industry.

Participating entities include Added, Adnoc, Mubadala Investment Company, Etisalat, ADQ, Aldar Group, Edge Group, Taqa, Emirates Steel, Etihad Rail, Emirates Global Aluminium, Etihad Airways, Masdar, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, the Tawazun Economic Council, Pure Health and chambers of commerce from across the country.

Seven financial institutions including Emirates Development Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Etihad Credit Insurance, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Standard Chartered will also exhibit their financial solutions.

More than 24 companies will also participate in an exhibition area where they will highlight the investment opportunities in their businesses.

The UAE economy is set to expand by an annual 5.4 per cent this year, driven by higher oil prices and the country’s success in containing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the UAE Central Bank said.

The economy expanded 3.8 per cent in 2021 and is forecast to grow 4.2 per cent in 2023.