The UAE will look to achieve greater self-reliance across sectors, after taking the decision to leave Opec, the country's Minister of Energy and Infrastructure said.
Suhail Al Mazrouei described the country's withdrawal from the group after 60 years as a deliberate move aimed at improving industrial self-determination, rather than a break from member states.
“We will have a sense of freedom to produce what we require without joining any group and that will give us a sense of planning, a sense of decision-making when it comes to prioritising our products that goes to the different industries,” he said at the Make it in the Emirates summit in Abu Dhabi.
The UAE was Opec’s fourth-largest producer and its exit from the group allows the country to increase production capacity to about 4.85 million barrels per day. It has a target of reaching five million bpd by 2027.
Mr Al Mazrouei previously described the move as a "carefully taken policy decision that has no political connotations to it", while it comes as the Iran war causes shocks in global energy markets. Since the conflict began on February 28, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has attacked shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and effectively closed the waterway.
“We are a responsible producer and we have investors here," Mr Al Mazrouei said at the summit. "We owe it to those partners who elected to invest in the UAE to produce what the world requires without restrictions, with collaboration, of course, with all other producers. We left on good terms. And as I said, we are a responsible producer.”
He added that the UAE would continue working with Opec and Opec+ members “bilaterally, rather than as part of a group”. But he told delegates at the event that control of energy production is crucial to the UAE’s security.
“We're tough when it comes to defending our families and whoever lives with us,” he said. "So I have no doubt of our capabilities, but those capabilities we've made within the Emirates will go to the next level. We need to go to the next level.”
His comments came hours before renewed Iranian attacks on the UAE that broke a nearly one-month ceasefire. “No one should be allowed to control the Strait of Hormuz, period,” he added. “That is the best-case scenario. And we're hoping that the whole world will realise the impact of that.”
From concept to production
Building up the country’s defensive capabilities is another core ambition, said Faisal Al Bannai, chairman of Edge Group. “When it comes to air defence, the soft-kill air defence, the jammers that came in play [during the regional crisis], we are now fully self-sufficient as a country,” he told the audience.
He added that "85 per cent of these drones" were tackled using jammers developed and produced in the UAE.
He described how the Abu Dhabi technology and defence group moved from concept to operation in a matter of weeks, as the UAE defended itself from attack.
“Before the war, day zero, certain products did not exist," Mr Al Bannai said. "On day 30, these products entered operation. Normally, these products would have taken us two years of development. They took 15 days of development and another 15 days to be used operationally."
Edge, which was founded in 2019, now receives 70 per cent of booked orders from abroad, said Mr Al Bannai. That level was 2 per cent when the group was launched.
Edge has held recent meetings in the US, including with tech billionaire Elon Musk. “Stay tuned for some interesting announcements," Mr Al Bannai said.
“I think over the next few years, we definitely have a determination that anything to do with air defence will be fully a UAE capability in that regard, produced in the UAE. I think it's very clear what was done in the last few years and whatever was done is now going to be 100 times to grow and grow our capabilities.”
Moving forward
Trade resilience has also been tested. The UAE recorded more than $1 trillion in foreign trade last year, with growth of about 27 per cent compared with the previous year, and performance has been strong this year, despite the conflict.
“We managed to shift many operations from the Arabian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, especially in Fujairah and Khor Fakkan,” said Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade, noting the country is connected to more than 250 ports and operates at least 330 vessels.
the UAE expects to benefit from direct government investment rather than stimulus. “Moving forward, for sure, we're going to continue our international investments, but also we're going to have a huge investments internally, regardless if it's going to be through the sovereign wealth funds or directly by the investment by the governments,” Dr Al Zeyoudi said.
“But the infrastructure, the strategic projects and development projects are going to be a key priority for the country moving forward. Many projects will be announced very soon just to make sure that we're continuing the momentum and we're not going to be as well dependent on any countries.”
