Abu Dhabi: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor, on Tuesday announced a strategic collaboration between its wholly owned subsidiary, Strata Manufacturing, and Honeywell, to produce N95 masks at Strata’s Al Ain facility.
The new N95 mask manufacturing line, which has started operations, will be the first of its kind in the GCC region, and will have an annual output capacity of over 30 million masks. The collaboration between Strata and Honeywell aims to address the need for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), one of the most significant challenges currently facing governments and organizations globally as they work to limit the spread of COVID-19.
N95 masks are respiratory protective devices that play an important role in filtering out airborne particles. The UAE currently imports all N95 respirators from abroad, with the new manufacturing line also set to transform the UAE into an exporter of the PPE product while also addressing its national requirements.
“As a responsible investor, we have been working across our global portfolio with local and international organisations to collectively respond to the COVID-19 crisis,” said Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, group chief executive officer and managing director of Mubadala.
“By collaborating with our longstanding and valued partner, Honeywell, we will be able to deliver critical support to frontline healthcare workers and members of the wider community,” he added.
“This new manufacturing capability will help address the critical demand for N95 respirators, and bolster the resilience of UAE’s PPE supply chains,” Al Mubarak said.
Mubadala’s collaboration with Honeywell is part of its #WeAreDedicated campaign – the company’s group-wide response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its efforts to coordinate initiatives across its business platforms and assets to support communities locally and internationally.
“As a global leader in advanced worker safety technologies, Honeywell is committed to ensuring that PPE products are being placed quickly and cost-effectively in the hands of those most in need, including medical professionals and those on the front lines of the fight against the spread of COVID-19,” said Darius Adamczyk, chairman and CEO of Honeywell, commenting on the new partnership.
“Mubadala has world-class manufacturing capabilities through its Strata subsidiary, and we are proud to extend the long standing, valued partnership between our companies to bring high quality respiratory manufacturing to the Middle East,” he added.
