The $5 billion pulling power of industrious Abu Dhabi's Kizad

Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad) has US$5 billion (Dh18.4bn) of committed projects from over 30 industrial companies as the manufacturing zone maps out its future.

Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi aims to account for 15 per cent of the capital’s non-oil GDP by 2030. Christopher Pike / The National

Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad) has US$5 billion (Dh18.4bn) of committed projects from more than 30 industrial companies spanning glass to clean technology, said a senior official.

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The industrial zone in Al Taweelah hopes to announce the names of the companies in the first half of next year, said Khaled Salmeen, the executive vice president of Industrial Zones, Abu Dhabi Ports Company, the parent company of Kizad.

"We have $5bn of committed projects," he said. "We are able to attract very valuable industries with huge know-how."

Kizad was launched as a key tool in Abu Dhabi's plans to diversify its economy. It aims to account for 15 per cent of the capital's non-oil GDP by 2030.

Kizad yesterday announced the name of its second tenant for the project: Taweelah Extrusion Company (Talex).

The project is being delivered at a time of faltering trade and a worsening economic outlook globally.

Under the Dh735 million investment, Talex will set up alongside Emirates Aluminium (Emal), which is the core tenant within Kizad's aluminium cluster. Emal, which is 50 per cent joint owned by the Abu Dhabi Government and Dubai Aluminium (Dubal), is Kizad's first tenant.

Talex is a joint-venture between Abu Dhabi Basic Industries, a unit of General Holding, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi Government, and Gulf Extrusions, an extrusions plant in Jebel Ali Free Zone.

Talex will take a 20-hectare plot as part of a long-term ground development lease. It plans to start operations towards the end of 2013. The company's arrival will signal the first fruition of Kizad's plans to create clusters, marrying industries working at different ends of the same production chain.

Talex will make use of Kizad's so-called"hot metal road", which enables the transportation of aluminium from smelters to midstream and downstream manufacturers.

The innovation reduces costs and environmental impacts - saving enough energy to power 160,000 homes.

"Talex is delighted to be the first aluminium downstream project to be established in Kizad," said Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, the chairman of Talex. "Abu Dhabi's vision is to diversify the economy by growing industrial and manufacturing sectors and creating self-supporting industrial clusters which lead to economic growth."

Gulf Extrusions already operates a similar clustering arrangement with Dubal in Jebel Ali Free Zone, enabling it to make parts for car manufacturers. But the new venture will help it to develop and expand its operations.

Other agreements that Kizad is signing will allow Abu Dhabi to gain a foothold in new manufacturing sectors. Glass and clean technology are among the industries it will bring to the zone via deals with foreign firms.

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