The UAE has urged global investors and industrialists to capitalise on its business-friendly environment that could help them achieve their manufacturing and export goals, as part of a strategy to support priority industrial sectors and attract investments.
The Emirates is seeing “significant development” in its plans to become a leading destination for global industrial companies and investment, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said during his visits to industrial companies in Dubai.
Dr Al Jaber visited electronic waste company Enviroserve and the Unilever factory, both located in Dubai Industrial City, where he was briefed on their international expansion plans.
We invite all investors and industrialists to benefit from the substantial competitive advantages available in the UAE, which give them the opportunity to realise their ambitions in manufacturing, developing and exporting their products
Dr Sultan Al Jaber,
Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology
The visits are part of the ministry's efforts to communicate directly with companies in the sector, follow up on innovative projects and continue to foster an environment that contributes to improving the sector’s success, the ministry said on Wednesday.
“Through these visits, we aim to discuss ways to provide a supportive business environment for local and international investors in the industrial sector, in line with the ministry’s strategy to transform the UAE into a major hub for future industries and advanced industries, as well as assist in opening up new regional and global markets to UAE-made products,” Dr Al Jaber said.
Dubai Industrial City is attracting global projects by providing the environment and solutions that support their growth, confirming the UAE industrial sector's ability to attract quality investments, he said.
The UAE, the Arab world’s second-largest economy, plans to increase the contribution of the industrial sector to its gross domestic product in the next 10 years to create jobs and attract investment.
Last year, the UAE announced Operation 300bn, which aims to more than double the contribution of the industrial sector to economic output to Dh300 billion ($81.68bn) by 2031, from Dh133bn in March 2021.
The ideas and operations of leading companies can assist the ministry's efforts to raise the industrial sector’s contribution to the national economy, and enhance the UAE’s global position as an destination for investment, it said.
“We invite all investors and industrialists to benefit from the substantial competitive advantages available in the UAE, which give them the opportunity to realise their ambitions in manufacturing, developing and exporting their products,” Dr Al Jaber said. The ministry engages in direct communication with all of its partners in the advanced industrial sector, he said.
Enviroserve recycles and processes electronic and electrical waste and equipment, and disposes of information technology assets, refrigerants and specialised waste.
The company has expanded from the UAE to new markets in Africa, the Middle East and the Caucasus region.
Its recycling model helps to make the industrial sector “more environmental friendly without affecting its growth”, said chief executive Lyes Yahiaoui.
Unilever's factory in Dubai Industrial City produces nearly 400 brands, making it the largest manufacturer of liquid personal care products in the Middle East and North Africa. It is also the company's regional headquarters for Mena, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Turkey.
The factory has delivered an 84 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions from energy along with a 22 per cent energy consumption reduction (per tonne of production), with 90 per cent of effluent reused, said Sanjiv Kakkar, regional executive vice president.
“We are now focused towards achieving Unilever commitment to net zero emissions by 2030,” he said.
Dubai Industrial City, part of Tecom Group, has attracted regional and international players in the industrial and logistics sector, and promoted the export of UAE-made products to international markets, Malek Al Malek, director general of the Dubai Development Authority and group chief of Tecom Group, said.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Anna and the Apocalypse
Director: John McPhail
Starring: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Mark Benton
Three stars
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Married Malala
Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.
The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.
Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
HWJN
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THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The British in India: Three Centuries of Ambition and Experience
by David Gilmour
Allen Lane
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Arsenal's pre-season fixtures
Thursday Beat Sydney 2-0 in Sydney
Saturday v Western Sydney Wanderers in Sydney
Wednesday v Bayern Munich in Shanghai
July 22 v Chelsea in Beijing
July 29 v Benfica in London
July 30 v Sevilla in London
