New Industrial Zone in Abu Dhabi
After the success story of the Jebel Ali Port and Industrial Freezone in Dubai the emirate of Abu Dhabi has launched a similar project with the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi or KIZAD.
The new deep sea port within an industrial Freezone is located in Taweelah just half way between Abu Dhabi down town and Dubai. On whopping 417 square kilometers which equals roughly 2/3 of the size of Singapore several industrial clusters are being built including ware houses, offices, business parks, labor camps ,a hotel, an exhibition center as well as numerous mosques.
KIZAD will have direct access to the GCC railway network that is going to connect all six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia, State of Kuwait, Kingdom of Bahrain, State of Qatar, United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman).
KIZAD is to attract mainly trading and logistic enterprises as well as industries in the fields of aluminum, chemicals and producer and manufacturer of food items and paper.
Initially, Area 1 is to be developed covering an area of 51 square kilometers and coming at a cost of AED 26,5 billion (approx. EUR 5,3 billion). Area 1 shall be operational end of 2012.
In accordance with the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 it is expected that by that year nearly 100,000 workers and employees will be working in KIZAD.
KIZAD is another step of the emirate of Abu Dhabi towards the industrialization of Abu Dhabi. In the east of the emirate on the border to the Sultanate of Oman the production and assembly of airplane components has already started.
However, it remains unclear for time being whether sufficient skilled workforce can be recruited. Furthermore KIZAD faces tough competition by other free zones in other emirates. It has to be seen what kind of incentives KIZAD will be offering to attract investors and employees alike.
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Joern Hadler