Abu Dhabi's Kizad attracted Dh1.5bn FDI in 2018, CEO says

The industrial free zone adjacent to Khalifa Port will finalise its masterplan for phase two development early next year

A ship is offloaded at Khalifa Port in Kizad. The industrial freezone is expected to see $2 to $3bn investment annually. Source: Abu Dhabi Ports

Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Industrial Zone (Kizad) attracted Dh1.5 billion in foreign direct investment during 2018 and expects to see inflows up to $3bn annually, according to its chief executive.

"Total investment in Kizad is around $60bn,” Kizad chief executive Samir Chaturvedi told reporters.

“Every square kilometre to get fully developed needs around $800m to $1bn in terms of industrial base development and everything else. Our first phase has been around 50 square kilometres, including the port, and we’re talking almost around $17 to $18bn,” he added.

Mr Chaturvedi was speaking at the signing of a collaboration agreement between Kizad and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) to develop a polymers park within the industrial free zone, adjacent to the $7bn Khalifa Port. The agreement, which follows Adnoc's announcement last year of a downstream strategy, including plans to double refining and and triple chemicals capacities, will see the development of the park to diversify options for export of products, the state oil company's downstream director Abdulaziz Abdulla Alhajri told The National on the sidelines of the event. Borouge, the UAE's largest chemicals company, which is 60 per cent owned by Adnoc will also be part of the development of the polymers park, which is expected to be completed by 2025.

The park, which is expected to attract $1.5bn in investment over the next five years will use the facilities of the adjacent Khalifa Port and Cosco Terminal, launched last year, to reach export markets.

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"Abu Dhabi Port launched last month the Cosco terminal, this brings around 2.5 million container capacity,” said Mr Chaturvedi.

"This capacity is expected to go up by 8 million by 2022-25. All this capacity is being created for the industrial growth of Abu Dhabi and the regional market that we want to support, so there’s ample capacity, the infrastructure has been built to support almost 20 million containers,” he added.

Khalifa Port last month inaugurated a $430 million terminal, which will be operated by China’s Cosco Shipping Ports on the basis of a 35-year concession agreement. Kizad is expected to see increased Chinese investment on the back of growing trade and logistics ties.

"Later this month we’ll be doing the groundbreaking for a passenger car kind of tyre [plant] with ten million tyres a year production,” said Mr Chaturvedi.

He confirmed the investor was Chinese, and declined to comment on the value of the investment.

Kizad, currently executing phase one of its industrial development, had leased out 65 per cent of the stretch of 50 square kilometres of land and will announce the master plan for phase two early next year.

"By 2020-21, we should be able to completely sell out this area, the phase one. Phase two, we have already started master planning 182 square kilometres of area, which is on the east of E11 in Abu Dhabi and master plan will be finalised by early next year,” said Mr Chaturvedi.

Phase two, once completed, would see $100bn in investment upon completion by 2050, he added.