UAE industry strengthens with Operation 300bn and In-Country Value programme

The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology issued 263 new industrial production licences last year, while the In-Country Value programme redirected Dh53bn into the economy

The Abu Dhabi skyline. The UAE launched its industrial strategy Operation 300bn in 2021 to position itself as an industrial centre by 2031. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Operation 300bn, the National In-Country Value (ICV) scheme and the first Make It In The Emirates campaign were among some of the major achievements of the UAE’s Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) last year, according to a new report.

The initiatives helped to develop the UAE's industrial sector, increase its contribution to gross domestic product, create an attractive business environment for local and foreign industrial investments, and stimulate innovation and the adoption of advanced technology, the ministry said in the report on Wednesday.

“The industrial sector’s enhanced efficiency and competitiveness have increased its investment attractiveness and support the growth of national GDP,” Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said.

“According to the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, the UAE’s industrial exports reached Dh174 billion [$47.4 billion]. The industrial sector is projected to have contributed over Dh180 billion.

“MoIAT issued 263 new industrial production licences in 2022, a 20 per cent increase over 2021, while the National In-Country Value programme succeeded in redirecting Dh53 billion into the economy, a 25 per cent increase.”

The UAE launched its industrial strategy, Operation 300bn, in 2021 to position the country as an industrial centre by 2031. The 10-year strategy focuses on increasing the industrial sector’s contribution to GDP to Dh300bn by 2031, from Dh133 billion in 2021.

The ministry is leading Operation 300bn. The ministry was created in 2020 to increase the competitiveness of products made in the UAE and the industrial sector's contribution to the economy.

The Make It In The Emirates campaign encourages local and international investors to manufacture and export products from the UAE.

The Arab world’s second-largest economy also launched the ICV programme that aims to boost the private sector’s participation in the economy, diversify output and localise critical parts of the supply chain.

In 2022, six new businesses joined the ICV programme, bringing the total number to 20, according to the ministry.

Highlighting international industrial partnerships, Dr Al Jaber stressed the ministry’s efforts to help Emirati products enter new markets by working with other ministries to secure reduced customs tariffs in tandem with comprehensive economic partnership agreements.

The ministry is also providing financial incentives through seven local and international financial institutions, and has reduced 14 service fees to cut the cost of doing business.

“The MoIAT is set to announce more initiatives, plans, incentives and enablers in the coming months as we look to achieve a quantum leap in the industrial sector in support of the UAE's vision for national development over the next 50 years,” Dr Al Jaber said.

At the first Make It In The Emirates forum last June, it was announced that more than 300 products can be manufactured locally by investing in excess of Dh110 billion as part of companies’ procurement requirements for the next decade across 11 growth sectors, according to the ministry.

So far, industrial companies have signed 19 letters of intent to invest Dh3.1 billion in products targeted for local manufacturing.

New financing solutions worth Dh3.14 billion from Emirates Development Bank and Dh1.3 billion from Etihad Credit Insurance to empower industrial companies were also introduced last year.

The ministry is accelerating the adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies in the industrial sector under the UAE Industry 4.0 programme.

In 2022, it supported 175 factories in developing a road map for their technological transformations, bringing the total number to 275 factories.

The ministry also unveiled the technology transformation programme last year to support the adoption of advanced technologies in the industrial sector.

It aims to unveil more than 1,000 technological projects by 2031, raise advanced technology exports to Dh15 billion and increase the GDP of advanced technology to Dh110 billion.

The ministry also signed an integrated industrial partnership with Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain. As part of the partnership, the first wave of industrial projects worth more than $1 billion was unveiled last year.