Chinese Companies Invest AED6.2 Billion in KIZAD

The vital projects between the UAE and China reflect the close cooperation between the two countries and the UAE’s strategic role in supporting the success of China's ‘Belt and Road’ initiative as the gateway to the Middle East and North Africa.

Will review the most prominent Chinese projects in the China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation Demonstration Zone in the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi, KIZAD.

The China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation Demonstration Zone Project, established in cooperation with Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Cooperation and Investment Company, JOCIC, has attracted more than 20 Chinese companies since it was officially launched last year with investments of more than AED6.2 billion.

JOCIC plays an important role in attracting more Chinese companies to set up a business in Khalifa Industrial Zone. The company is developing a 2.2 sq km manufacturing area with a potential to expand to 12.2 sq km in the future, based on a 50-year Abu Dhabi Ports Cooperation Agreement.

In the same context, the Chinese tire manufacturer Roadbot has laid the foundation stone for a new tire manufacturing facility within the China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation Demonstration Zone in KIZAD with a total value of AED2.2 billion and is due to enter into operation in October 2020.

Abu Dhabi Ports and COSCO Shipping Ports Limited opened CSP Abu Dhabi Port Container Terminal (COSCO) in 2018, thus positioning Abu Dhabi as the regional hub for COSCO’s global network of 36 ports and further connecting the Emirate to the major trade hubs along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The deepwater, semi-automated container terminal includes the largest Container Freight Station (CFS) in the Middle East, covering 275,000 square metres. The facility offers facilities for full and partial bonded container shipments, the full range of container packing services, short-term warehousing for de-consolidated cargo as well as easy connectivity with container terminals in Khalifa Port. The terminal is also the first international greenfield subsidiary of COSCO SHIPPING Ports, a subsidiary of China COSCO Shipping, the largest integrated shipping enterprise in the world. CSP has so far invested AED1.1 billion in capital expenditure on construction and machinery at the terminal.

The partnership with COSCO shipping Ports is part of a five-year strategy by Abu Dhabi Ports aimed at strengthening the maritime sector in Abu Dhabi and driving economic diversification, in line with Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, by increasing regional trade and attracting foreign direct investment. Abu Dhabi Ports has earmarked AED10 billion in investment that will increase capacity at Khalifa Port from the current 5 million TEU to 9.1 million TEU, which also includes boosting capacity at Terminal 1 to more than 5 million TEU.

The CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal has a design capacity of 2.5 million TEU and will begin with a handling capacity of 1.5 million TEU, with 1200 metres of quay. The water depth of the terminal is 16.5 metres, allowing it to accommodate mega-vessels typically carrying in excess of 20,000 TEU.

Abu Dhabi Ports expects the volume of Chinese companies' investment to increase in the coming years, taking advantage of the strategic location of KIZAD, proximity to Abu Dhabi Ports and CSP Abu Dhabi Port Container Terminal (COSCO), which is a regional hub of the Chinese company to reach to the region's markets.