Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Noon.com has called his company’s new 252,000 square metre fulfilment centre in Abu Dhabi “change agents for the future”.
The regional online shopping giant broke ground for the largest such facility in the UAE, being designed and developed by Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD) Group.
KEZAD Group is the integrated trade, logistics, and industrial hub of Abu Dhabi and a fully-owned subsidiary of AD Ports Group.
The fulfilment centre will form part of an anchor investment by noon.com into the emirate’s fast-growing e-commerce space. It is being constructed under a Build-to-Suit agreement and is scheduled for delivery in 2024.
The facility will feature new automation technologies for storage, material movement, and sorting, and will enable rapid delivery of products to the customers and is expected to create several thousand new jobs.
Alabbar said: “More than 5,000 small businesses will use our fulfilment centre to store their goods and conduct business. This will allow our youth and small businesses to connect with the growing number of e-commerce customers without having to invest in technology or real estate.
“I’m especially proud that this facility, built with our partners Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) and KEZAD Group, will create thousands of jobs in Abu Dhabi and will accelerate the digital penetration of core sectors such as retail and logistics.
“This is not your typical real estate project – technology infrastructure projects of this scale are change agents for the future, not just for our company, but also for our community and country.”
Noon already has a facility with KEZAD, but it has decided to expand its operations to a larger area by utilising its Build-to-Suit solution, which will facilitate the design and delivery of noon’s turnkey facility. The development has been tailor-made to meet the company’s specific operational requirements, helping to reduce costs, boost productivity and offer essential supply chain efficiencies.
Additionally, the completed facility will be a sustainable building conforming to Estidama 2 Pearl rating which incorporates initiatives to enable water, energy and waste minimisation.
Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and CEO of AD Ports Group, said: “The state-of-the-art Noon fulfilment centre represents an important milestone in our collective journey to enable the rapid expansion of e-commerce and same-day delivery models in the region. The facility will bring significant economic benefits and will offer new opportunities for the private sector looking to reach customers across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) is also providing Noon with financial and non-financial incentives as part of the continued expansion of Abu Dhabi’s fast-growing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) ecosystem.
Abdulla Abdul Aziz AlShamsi, Acting Director General, ADIO, added: “Abu Dhabi’s e-commerce sector has taken another step forward with work commencing on the country’s largest fulfilment centre. ADIO congratulates Noon and KEZAD Group on reaching this important milestone and looks forward to working closely with our partners through the next phase of their growth and expansion.”
By leveraging its innovative development solution, KEZAD Group will deliver the Noon fulfilment centre on a fast-track basis to the end users’ exact specifications.
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