Al Qamzi concedes that the cost of rental is expensive
but maintains that this is compensated for by the
government-supported infrastructure which has
been specifically designed to be conducive to good
production.
“We are proactive in our outreach to the industrial
sector. We have created a value chain from top to
bottom as a focal point for servicing the needs of
the investor. We are the only entity that can grant
industrial licenses and industrial land and therefore
occupy a pivotal role for industrial FDI”.
What we say, we deliver on, because the success of
investors is our success.”
Al Qamzi says of Vision 2030 that;
“There is only one vision. It is cascaded down to
each entity and we each implement our part of it in
conjunction with one another.”
Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030
Companies can enjoy duty-free import of machinery
and raw materials, free repatriation of profits, tax
exemptions, competitively priced utilities as well as
duty-free access to the GCC market. Already only 12
minutes from the Abu Dhabi International Airport,
50 minutes from Jebel Ali Port and Airport, the zones
will soon be served with the forthcoming “Abu Dhabi
Industrial Port” as well.
The level of foreign ownership remains low within
the Emirate, thus indicating an opportunity to
boost FDI and speed-up the roll-out of leading
edge technologies, business processes and
management practices to the rest of the economy.
For now, however, free zones, which enjoy some
exemptions and flexibility related to foreign
ownership rights, are the primary tools to
encourage FDI. eg. Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone
(KPIZ)
Foreign nationals are now permitted to own real
estate in the Emirate within specially designated
“We work with GHC (General Holding Co.) and
ADBIC (Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Company)
with regard to the overall strategy, and implement
it from there. We are open to all kinds of industrial
enterprise, as long as it is self-financing and has
a product that is competitiv e. Whatever is in my
control, I will do to facilitate an investor, particularly
in high end, capital intensive industries that require
less in manpower. Each business has its own
complexities, so we can meet each other, find a
mechanism that works, agree a rental price and start
from there.
zones, a measure to improve the attractiveness of
the Emirate as an investment destination.
A point made and reiterated by ZonesCorp
representatives at the Abu Dhabi Economic Forum,
which took place in the Emirates Palace Hotel in
February 2010, was that the impact of the financial
crisis has actually served to benefit the industrial
sector in Abu Dhabi by bringing down prices.
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