Kizad Supports German Business in Abu Dhabi

Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), the new industrial and logistics zone next to Abu Dhabi's Khalifa Port, has announced at Hannover Messe that it will be sponsoring a key German industry forum. The popular annual event held in the UAE is focused on improving the flow of business activity, facilitating joint ventures and sharing know-how and technology transfer between Germany, the UAE and the wider Gulf region.

The sponsorship is a natural link for Kizad. Khalifa Port and Kizad are one of Abu Dhabi's biggest infrastructure megaprojects to date and will become one of the world's biggest industrial zones. Connected by road, rail, air and sea, Kizad groups major industries as vertically integrated clusters' which will through proximity, deliver transport and production efficiencies and lower costs.

In its fifth year, the popular German Industry Day (GID 2013) is an effective forum for exploring investment opportunities and broadening the network of top industry executives. Senior management and Director-level professionals come from the private and public sectors in the UAE and wider region, to network with some of Germany's leading SMEs in the light and heavy industrial sectors.

The Forum also includes two top level panel discussions with leading industrialists and economists, providing valuable insights into the global macro-economic environment and its relation and effect on industrial production and trade. Organised by FCF Fox Corporate Finance GmbH, bookings already indicate that this years' event will be the biggest yet.

Commenting on the announcement, Khaled Salmeen, CEO and Managing Director of Kizad, said: "With a growing demand in the Middle East, and the Gulf Region for construction and engineering projects, there is a corresponding level of interest for Kizad's offering - from both large and small sized industrial-focused companies in Germany. Kizad is an excellent option for businesses looking to expand into and locate in a stable and prosperous area of the Middle East region. Our strategic geographical location, access to first-class regional road networks throughout the Arabian Gulf and low operating costs, together with our red tape-cutting One-Stop-Shop' combine to offer investors an exciting proposition." Arno Fuchs, CEO of FCF Fox Corporate Finance, the organisers of German Industry Day 2013, said: "We are delighted to have Kizad join us as a strategic partner at this year's event. As an investment bank looking to support SMEs we are acutely aware of the necessary infrastructure that is often crucial to a company's success. Kizad is clearly an entity with an offering that will appeal to many German SMEs in the industrial sectors complementing our investment strategies.

"German industrial companies have already established strong reputations by delivering on key infrastructural contracts in the Gulf Region, indeed some have been directly involved in the construction of Khalifa Port and the Kizad industrial zone," added Fuchs. Abu Dhabi's newly inaugurated Khalifa Port and Kizad Zone A (first phase) was constructed at a cost of EUR5.64bn (USD7.2bn) and is now the only fully operational deep-water port with a semi-automated container terminal in the region.

Kizad has identified various vertical sectors and specifically assigned industry clusters in its new commercial and industrial zone. They include; aluminium; steel; glass; pharmaceuticals and healthcare; food; paper, print and packaging; trade and logistics; and mixed use industries.

Kizad's Zone A and Khalifa Port area covers 52sq.km but will expand to 418 sq. km in the second phase - an area equivalent to two thirds the land mass of Singapore. German Industry Day 2013 will be held at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr Hotel on 28th May. The event is run by Fox Corporate Finance GmbH, an independent investment bank with financial specialisation in small to mid-sized businesses, and supported by Kizad, Deutsche Bourse and the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce. Participation at the GID is exclusive to pre-registered guests only.