ADNOC Content Enhancement Fund contributes to establishing 8 facilities worth AED 700 million

As part of its qualitative program to enhance national content and its support for the “Make in the Emirates” initiative, ADNOC has succeeded in enabling local and international companies to establish eight new industrial facilities within the country, in less than a year, with a commercial value of more than 700 million dirhams, and contributing to providing more than 800 job opportunities within the country.

By concluding this type of qualitative partnerships and cooperating with local and international manufacturers, ADNOC seeks to enhance the UAE’s position as a preferred destination for local and foreign industrial investments. It has allocated a package of incentive opportunities aimed at supporting efforts to diversify and localize economic activities and local manufacturing, represented in purchasing products that can be manufactured locally, worth 90 billion dirhams by 2030.

Omar Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology and Chairman of the National Committee for the National Content Program, stressed that the Ministry is working to launch initiatives, programs and plans with the aim of achieving the objectives of the National Strategy for Industry and Advanced Technology, to enhance the UAE’s industrial position, increase the competitiveness of industries in the country, and support the industrial sector to increase its contribution to the gross domestic product.

He said that one of the most important initiatives launched by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology is the National Content Program, which aims to redirect purchases to the national economy, and which has achieved great successes and witnessed an expansion in the number of those joining it, reaching 31 federal and local government agencies and major national companies.

Al Suwaidi added that the value of investments by companies that obtained the program’s certificates reached 205 billion dirhams by the middle of this year, and that the first half of this year witnessed an increase in national spending by entities implementing the National Content Program by 66%, compared to the first half of last year, by directing more than 48 billion dirhams to the national economy, exceeding the total achieved by the program in the entire year 2021.

For his part, Rashid Abdul Karim Al Balooshi, Undersecretary of the Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi, said that this strong performance of ADNOC’s National Content Enhancement Program confirms its important role in providing jobs for national talents, attracting foreign direct investment, and developing the industrial sector.

He added, “Based on our role in leading the efforts of economic growth and diversification in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, our efforts are in line with the UAE Industrial Strategy (Project 300 Billion) and the Climate Neutrality Strategy 2050. The Abu Dhabi Industrial Strategy focuses on enhancing the knowledge economy, increasing Emiratisation rates and employing modern technologies, through the Local Value Certificate and industrial strategy programmes related to local products and supply chains.”

He explained that the initiatives of the Abu Dhabi Industrial Strategy contributed to the growth of the industrial sector in Abu Dhabi, as its value during the first quarter of this year reached 24.8 billion dirhams, representing 8.7% of the gross domestic product and 16% of the non-oil economy of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

In turn, Dr. Saleh Al Hashemi, Director of Commercial Affairs and In-Country Value at ADNOC, said that ADNOC is committed to continuing its efforts to enhance industrial growth and support the country’s growth and prosperity efforts through its successful National Content Enhancement Program, noting that ADNOC is working to expand the scope of this program to include empowering talented Emirati citizens, creating job opportunities for them with private sector partners, supporting entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises, and attracting new local and international investors in the field of manufacturing. He added that ADNOC is closely cooperating with local and international companies to build and expand several manufacturing and production facilities in the UAE, and seeks to contribute to strengthening the country’s position as a leading global industrial hub, and reducing the national industrial sector’s dependence on imports, replacing them with locally manufactured products bearing the “Made in the UAE” label.

The local and international companies that have established their industrial centers within the country, under these agreements, include Tenaris, a global company that produces steel pipes for the energy sector, Engenia Polymers, a global company for chemical industries, and the French company TechnipFMC Industries, a provider of energy sector technologies.

Through their joint venture, Ados Engineering Industries and Esparros, a leading global provider of oilfield engineering services, have established a new offshore equipment manufacturing facility, the first of its kind in the Middle East.

Specialized Services Holding, United Clad Technology and MT Global Valves Group have established new manufacturing facilities and expanded existing ones across Abu Dhabi.

Yokogawa Emirates Industries established a factory to produce transmitters, while DNV Inspection established a center for inspection, evaluation and project control services.

Redirecting 187 billion dirhams to the local economy

Since its launch in 2018, ADNOC’s National Content Enhancement Program has successfully redirected AED 187 billion into the local economy and contributed to creating thousands of private sector jobs, with a large portion of these jobs allocated to Emiratis in the private sector. The program has also contributed to reducing the country’s dependence on imports, by establishing local manufacturing capabilities.