Dubai has expanded the scope of Dubai Industries & Exports, the agency of Dubai Economy, amid an increasing emphasis on industrialisation in the emirate and the wider UAE.
The agency, formerly known as Dubai Exports, will seek to co-ordinate with various authorities on policies, initiatives and services for industrial development and export promotion.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, said the move comes as the industrial sector has become a driving force for economic diversification, productivity and sustainable growth as well as Dubai’s integration with global markets.
Dubai aims to become a regional hub for industries, especially light to medium industrial units involved in manufacturing and exporting mechanical equipment, chemicals, food and beverages, machinery and metals, Sheikh Hamdan (pictured below) said.
He added that Dubai Industries & Exports will play a pivotal role in transforming Dubai into a hub for future industries and attracting domestic and foreign investment into the industrial sector.
His comments come after the launch of the Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030, announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, which aims to make Dubai a global base for knowledge-based, innovation-driven and sustainable industries.
The strategy comprises 67 initiatives that are expected to lay the foundation for future industry in Dubai and add AED160 billion to the emirate’s GDP through to 2030.
Meanwhile, a 10-year national industrial strategy has also been launched to empower and expand the UAE’s industrial sector and increase its GDP contribution from the current AED133 billion to AED300 billion by 2031.
Named Operation 300bn, the strategy envisions the industrial sector as the driving force of a sustainable national economy.
Sheikh Hamdan affirmed that the new mandate of Dubai Industries & Exports is also aligned with the emirate’s strategy to promote non-oil trade by pursuing opportunities in overseas markets for diversifying exports.
The agency will be instrumental in supporting investors and manufacturers globally to build on this opportunity in Dubai, he said.
Sami Al Qamzi, director general of Dubai Economy, said: “Dubai Industries & Exports will continue to facilitate industrial activity and exports and work collaboratively with all stakeholders to create a future-oriented regulatory framework for promoting an innovative and capable industry.
“The pandemic phase has convinced global industry about the competitive advantage Dubai holds in connecting trade and people, and in sustaining business activity,” he added
According to data from the Dubai Statistics Centre, the average GDP contribution of the industrial sector in the 2015-2019 period was 9.3 percent.
Industrial exports from Dubai saw an average growth of 7 percent in this period. The total value of the emirate’s industrial exports in 2020 amounted to AED167 billion, a growth of 8 percent from the previous year, according to Dubai Customs.
Dubai Industries & Exports said it will intensify co-ordination with partners and authorities locally and internationally to formulate services and initiatives that meet the needs of the industrial sector, especially in the post-Covid phase, in addition to launching the second phase of the Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030.
A report issued by the Business Registration & Licensing sector in Dubai Economy showed that 6,728 companies have been operating in the industrial sector since 1963, with a 94.1 percent increase in the number of industrial firms between 2006 and 2021.
The number of investors in the industrial sector reached 33,548 in 2021.
Al Quoz Fourth Industrial Zone has the largest concentration of industrial units in Dubai, followed by Dubai Investments Park 1 and Jebel Ali 1.
The most prominent industrial activities in Dubai include manufacture of metal structures for buildings, blacksmith and welding workshops and furniture manufacturing.
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