The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) has signed four preliminary agreements to accelerate decarbonisation and digitalisation in the manufacturing sector, as the UAE aims to become net zero by 2050.
The new agreements were signed with Adnoc, Edge Group, Kezad Group and Dubai Industrial City with a focus on the implementation of the Industrial Technology Transformation Index, a new framework to measure digital maturity and sustainability in factories, the ministry said on Wednesday.
“By participating in the index, companies will gain a clear road map as well as recommendations to help them integrate technologies that will boost their productivity and efficiency,” MoIAT said.
“These efforts will support decarbonisation of the entire industrial value chain.”
The UAE is investing heavily in clean energy projects and has announced several initiatives as it seeks to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
The country is building the world’s largest solar plant in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi emirate, with a capacity of 2 gigawatts, as well as the Mohammed bin Rashid Solar Park in Dubai, which has a planned capacity of 5 gigawatts.
It also aims to decarbonise the industrial sector.
Through expanding ITTI, MoIAT will also gain more detailed data and information on the industrial landscape, “helping it to co-create evidence-based policies and programmes that drive digital transformation and decarbonisation,” it said.
The partnerships will lead to new incentives that will help manufacturers to digitalise and decarbonise their operations.
This year, MoIAT formed an alliance with the private sector to develop and use sustainable technologies.
The Industrial Sustainability Alliance aims to adopt green technologies to accelerate sustainable industrial growth, the ministry said at the time.
It also seeks to showcase industrial sustainability best practices in the UAE’s industrial sector and provide a platform for dialogue among all stakeholders — policymakers, global technology experts and industry.
In 2021, the UAE launched the Operation 300bn strategy to increase the manufacturing sector's contribution to the country's gross domestic product to Dh300 billion ($82 billion) by 2031, from Dh133 billion in 2021.
The Arab world's second-largest economy is also encouraging companies to manufacture products locally as part of the Make it in the Emirates initiative.
