UAE's industrial exports have grown by Dh70 billion in 3 years: Sultan Al Jaber

The UAE’s industrial exports have grown by more than Dh70 billion in the last three years, Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said on Wednesday.

“If we look at the sector’s key performance indicators, the industry’s contribution to the UAE’s economy has increased by 49 per cent since MoIAT was established. In 2020, before the ministry was created, the sector’s contribution to GDP was Dh132 billion. Today it has reached a projected Dh197 billion. Industrial exports have grown by 60 per cent with significant progress being made last year, amounting to a projected Dh187 billion compared to Dh117 billion in 2020. Industrial productivity has increased by 18 per cent compared to 2020. In 2023, the UAE ranked first regionally and 29th globally in UNIDO’s Competitive Industrial Performance Index, climbing seven spots since 2020,” Al Jaber said.

The minister highlighted MoIAT’s focus on boosting in-country value in the national industrial sector while also enhancing the value add of manufacturing, in an effort to boost supply chain security as well as economic competitiveness in a way that supports national products.

“This has contributed to greater national industrial security and self-sufficiency, resulting in Dh9.3 billion worth of import substitution projects,” Al Jaber said.

He highlighted that MoIAT-launched enablers and incentives were among the most important tools for supporting sustainable business growth, and reducing financial barriers and risks for industrial companies, nothing that “financing not only supports innovation and technological transformation but can also enhance business growth and help create more high-tech job opportunities in the private sector”.

Asked about the UAE’s industry and technology sector before and after the establishment of the ministry, Dr. Al Jaber said, “Before 2020, the UAE’s industrial sector was overseen by several different entities, meaning there were some regulatory and procedural disparities at the federal and local levels. This impacted the ease of doing business and operating costs, limited competitive sources of financing, and slowed technology transformation initiatives.

“In line with the leadership’s directives to diversify the UAE’s economy and strengthen the country’s economic competitiveness and global industrial ranking, the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) was established in 2020. In March 2021, the National Strategy for Industry and Advanced Technology, Operation 300bn, was launched to create a strong industrial business environment that supported growth and competitiveness. It was also mandated with establishing an integrated system of enablers, incentives and financing solutions, in addition to a flexible legislative structure and robust quality infrastructure,” Al Jaber said.

“We focused on two main pillars: the first is boosting in-country value in the national industrial sector while also enhancing the value add of manufacturing. This is to meet our basic necessities and boost supply chain security as well as economic competitiveness in a way that supports national products. The second is providing more valuable opportunities to the industrial sector, whether it is through investment opportunities or facilitating access to global markets, as well as attracting foreign investments in advanced industries,” he added.

The minister underscored one of MoIAT’s flagship initiatives is the National In-Country Value (ICV) Programme, through which more than Dh237 billion being spent outside the UAE has been redirected into the national economy. “This recapturing of national procurement has contributed to the growth and competitiveness of the industrial sector and has directly enhanced self-sufficiency. So far, 16,000 Emiratis have been employed across ICV-certified companies.”

Dr. Al Jaber continued, “MoIAT has also implemented initiatives to enable local products and create product offtake opportunities for local businesses. This has been achieved through partnerships with major national companies, especially in priority sectors, such as pharmaceuticals. For example, last year saw the establishment of the first factory in the Middle East to produce glargine (a synthetic version of human insulin).

“We also saw product offtake opportunities in medical supplies. This has contributed to greater national industrial security and self-sufficiency, resulting in Dh9.3 billion worth of import substitution projects.”

In terms of promoting advanced technologies and Industry 4.0 solutions, the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology said that MoIAT has “paved the way for the adoption of robotics, artificial intelligence, blockchain, nanotechnology, biotechnology, the Internet of Things and 3D printing, among others”.

These technologies, he noted, have boosted industrial exports, supporting the UAE’s position as a leading regional and international hub for future industries. “MoIAT also stimulated high-tech industries with financing solutions worth Dh1.5 billion in 2023 alone. This has resulted in the growth of high-tech exports from Dh2.9 billion in 2020 to Dh3.5 billion in 2023. The UAE has also moved up five places to be ranked 37th in the latest UN’s Frontier Technologies Readiness Index 2023.”

“One of the largest barriers to technology adoption is access to capital and enablers are key to lowering financial barriers and risks for industrial companies. Financing not only supports innovation and technological transformation but can also enhance business growth and help create more high-tech job opportunities in the private sector,” he further added. “Enablers and incentives are among the most important tools for attracting local and foreign investments to the UAE’s industrial sector. The ministry in 2023 provided Dh5.3 billion in financing solutions for the industrial sector in cooperation with strategic partners including Emirates Development Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Mashreq Bank.”

Dr. Al Jaber described the Make it in the Emirates Forum as a “key pillar of the Make it in the Emirates initiative, which invites local and international investors, industrialists and innovators to benefit from the country’s competitive advantages”. “A first of its kind in the region, more than 5,000 experts and investors, as well as officials from major local and international industrial companies, technology developers, government entities and financial institutions, attended the 2023 edition of the Make it in the Emirates Forum,” he remarked.

He highlighted the impactful results achieved by the first and second editions of the forum, especially in terms of providing a platform to enhance cooperation, discuss future industrial trends and announce industrial investments. “It also introduced major incentives and investment opportunities,” Dr. Al Jaber elaborated, “and established partnerships between local, regional and international companies.”

The Minister added, “The Make it in the Emirates Forum is unlike any other; it is a platform that promotes investments and opportunities to empower industrial SMEs. In partnership with 12 major national companies, the ministry, through the Forum, introduced 1400 products that can be manufactured locally with a value of Dh120 billion. Today, 51 per cent of these product offtake opportunities, equivalent to Dh62 billion, have been awarded.

“The Make it in the Emirates initiative has helped strengthen relationships between investors, innovators and developers from inside and outside the UAE. It has led to many stakeholders becoming active partners of the national industrial sector. Further, it has enabled stakeholders to explore opportunities in the industrial sector while exchanging knowledge and experiences.”

Al Jaber affirmed that the UAE recognises the importance of technological transformation in all sectors.

“The ministry launched the Technology Transformation Programme as a framework to enhance the performance, efficiency, productivity, competitiveness and sustainability of the national industrial sector. It aims to accelerate technological transformation in priority sectors to make the UAE industrial sector a hub for investors, innovators, talent and entrepreneurs,” he noted.

“As part of the programme, the ministry launched the first-of-its-kind Industrial Technology Transformation Index to measure the technological maturity and sustainability of factories, as well as develop a roadmap to support their technological transformation. Through the index, 153 technology transformation roadmaps have been developed, resulting in an estimated Dh600 million in advanced technology investments and 360 high-tech jobs created in companies participating in the Technology Transformation Programme.”

“The ministry will continue to expand the scope and impact of the Technology Transformation Programme to enhance productivity and innovation in the industrial sector. While the adoption rate of advanced technology and AI already stands at 32 per cent, the UAE’s leadership recognises the vital importance of applying these advanced technologies across the industrial sector to further enhance the UAE’s global competitiveness,” Al Jaber said.

• Business