UAE's New Port and Zone Offers Industry Clusters with Integrated, Dedicated Services

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The inauguration of the Abu Dhabi Ports Company's $7.2 billion Khalifa Port has given a major boost to the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) drive to diversify the economy away from dependence on oil. The port also will serve to focus global awareness of the new Kizad industrial zone adjacent to the port.

While opening the port complex, UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan said that the country provided the necessary support for the maritime transport industry, particularly Khalifa Port, which, when its phases of construction have been completed, will become one of the most important ports for trade in the region and the Middle east, benefitting from the UAE's strategic location to act as a link between the economic regions of the world.

Within a generation, the port and the Kizad industrial zone are set to account for up to 15% of Abu Dhabi's non-oil gross domestic product, creating hundreds of new jobs and critical skills aligned to the Emirate's future economic plans.

The completion of the first phase of the port, where the container terminal started commercial operations at the beginning of September, will give it the capacity to handle 50,000 containers per week and 1 million tons of cargo per month. Freight movements are controlled by a small team of skilled operatives based in a state-of-the-art control centre, which is said to be a new global benchmark in port technology.

The 418-square-kilometer industrial zone will have a bespoke infrastructure designed specifically to accommodate the needs of key sectors targeted for future growth, such as aluminum, steel, engineered metals, food, paper, print and packaging, logistics, warehousing and glass.

Raw materials arriving at Khalifa Port will move seamlessly to each cluster, taking current container traffic away from the city center and directly into the tax-free cluster specifically developed to support each manufacturing process.

The port and zone together provide access to three international airports within a 90-minute drive, purpose-built express highways, and a direct rail link planned for 2016. The container terminal has developed network with more than 40 destinations worldwide.

For related information, see September 5, 2012, article - Abu Dhabi Opens $7.2 Billion Khalifa Mega-Port Project.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.