Abu Dhabi: Tawazun Industrial Park on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi will be expanded to accommodate more defence companies in the future, the chief executive officer of the industrial park said on Tuesday.
There are currently thirteen companies in the only defence industrial zone in the UAE. The industrial park provides complete defence infrastructure including, dedicated manufacturing, assembling and storage facilities for defence-related products. There are warehouses, workshops and other basic infrastructure at the sprawling industrial zone covering an area of twenty million square metres.
“We have a business plan for next five years and are currently investing almost Dh300 million to expand infrastructure in the zone to accommodate more defence companies. We are planning to build new warehouses and provide other essential services in the park,” said Faiz Saleh Al Nahdy speaking on the sidelines of International Defence Exhibition (Idex 2017) in Abu Dhabi.
“Our aim is to double or triple the number of companies operating in the industrial zone in the next five to ten years. We have a large tract of land and our defence sector is growing. We want to cater to the needs of the industry.”
The industrial park was created in 2012 by the Abu Dhabi government in an effort to develop defence industry in the UAE and host international and local defence companies.
A number of government-owned companies like Nimr automotive, Tawazun Precision Industries, Tawazun Dynamics, International Golden Group, Caracal, Burkan munition systems among others are based in the industrial park.
“Our growth has been rapid. [The] defence industry is one of the top three focus sectors under our government’s industrialisation policy and we are always prepared to support [it] in this direction. We are optimistic about the growth of the industry in future.”
The UAE government has been focusing on developing the local defence industry over the last few years as part of its diversification strategy. A number of defence companies are operating under the umbrella of the Emirates Defence Industries Company (EDIC). which was created in 2014. The government also unveiled a new company called Barij Munitions at Idex that will supply bullets to the UAE Armed Forces and other friendly countries in the region.
