Al Ain gears up to launch $1b world-class aerospace cluster

Abu Dhabi: The ground breaking of the proposed $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) aerospace cluster in Al Ain will take place on Saturday, the chief operating officer of Mubadala Development Company, Waleed Al Muhairi, said during a conference here on Tuesday.

Mubadala is a wholly- owned Abu Dhabi government entity that makes long-term capital intensive investments to deliver strong financial returns and economic diversification.

In June, Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) and Germany's bavAIRia Aerospace Cluster signed an agreement during the Paris Air Show under which ADAC, government entities and Mubadala will together invest up to $1 billion over the next three to five years to create a world-class aerospace centre in Al Ain.

Separately, Al Muhairi said the Emirates Aluminium Company Limited (Emal) in Abu Dhabi is due to begin production in 2010.

"The estimated production in the first stage is 700,000 tonnes. It will be the largest single site aluminium smelter in the world," said Al Muhairi.

Joint venture

Emal is a strategic joint venture between aluminium producer Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) and Mubadala.

As well, Al Muhairi said the Abu Dhabi government-owned Advanced Technology Investment Co (Atic) plans to build a chip foundry in Abu Dhabi which would be functional within four years.

"In four years, you're going to see the first foundry here in Abu Dhabi," said Al Muhairi.

He added that it would aim to become a leading global chipmaker.

Atic, a technology investment company, announced in September that it would acquire Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing of Singapore, one of the world's top dedicated semiconductor foundries, for $1.8 billion.