Abu Dhabi: The emirate of Abu Dhabi will soon see the establishment of a number of defence projects in ZonesCorp’s AutoCity, located in ICAD V, a statement said.

The Higher Corporation for Specialised Economic Zones (ZonesCorp) signed an agreement on Tuesday with International Golden Group (IGG) to establish a number of defence projects in ZonesCorp’s AutoCity, located in ICAD V. Spanning over an area of 6.3 square kilometres, AutoCity project will be developed in four phases and the first phase will include 2.8 square kilometres of land. Access to the site will be available to investors by September 16, 2013 and plot handover will take place on May 11, 2014.

“Our agreement with a leading organisation such as International Golden Group reflects our genuine commitment to our leadership’s wise vision of diversifying sources of income for our country, and of further promoting growth of vital sectors in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Our entities will be working together to develop advanced, significant defence-related projects in our AutoCity area, thereby adding new types of industries to our zones,” Mohammad Hassan Al Qamzi, CEO of ZonesCorp, said.

AutoCity is located on the edge of Abu Dhabi along two major highways connecting Abu Dhabi to Al Ain, the Western Region, Dubai and the Saudi border. The project is set to house auto-related investments and will encompass workshops and service centres in addition to warehousing, vehicle storage, distribution and spare parts facilities. The long term goal of AutoCity is to pave the way for automobile assembly and manufacturing in Abu Dhabi.

Fadel Saif Al Kaabi, CEO of IGG said, “We look forward to working with ZonesCorp on establishing important defence projects in AutoCity to support our emirate’s economic growth. AutoCity holds a unique value proposition, and we believe that it was the ideal location for us to develop our projects not only due to its strategic location and advanced infrastructure plans, but also as a result of ZonesCorp’s track record in providing high quality services for investors.”