AD Ports Group's subsidiary Kezad Group and online shopping platform noon.com on Wednesday broke ground on the UAE’s largest fulfilment centre in Abu Dhabi, which will form part of an anchor investment by Noon in the emirate’s fast-growing e-commerce space.
The 252,000-square-metre fulfilment centre, which is being designed and developed by Kezad Group under a build-to-suit agreement, is scheduled for delivery in 2024, AD Ports said on Wednesday.
The automated facility for storage, material movement and sorting will help quickly deliver products to millions of customers in the UAE and create thousands of new jobs, it said.
"More than 5,000 small businesses will use our fulfilment centre to store their goods and conduct business. This will allow our youth and small businesses to connect with the growing number of e-commerce customers without having to invest in technology or real estate," said Mohamed Alabbar, founder of noon.com.
It will also help core sectors such as retail and logistics accelerate their online operations.
"This is not your typical real estate project — technology infrastructure projects of this scale are change agents for the future, not just for our company, but also for our community and country," he added.
The UAE provides a big opportunity for e-commerce companies. The sector in the country is projected to grow to more than $8 billion by 2025, as consumers across the region continue to shift towards online retail, according to Euromonitor International.
Noon.com, the portal backed by Emaar founder, Mr Alabbar, and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, was the third biggest e-commerce player in the UAE last year, with net sales of about $169 million, data from ecommerceDB shows.
The noon.com fulfilment centre aligns with AD Ports Group's mission to position Abu Dhabi as a global hub for trade through the development of an industrial ecosystem within Kezad, said Mohamed Al Shamisi, managing director and group chief executive of AD Ports.
"The facility will bring significant economic benefits with the creation of thousands of jobs and will offer new opportunities for the private sector looking to reach customers across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe," he said.
The facility "represents an important milestone in our collective journey to enable the rapid expansion of e-commerce and same-day delivery models in the region", he added.
Fulfilment centres are key to the operations of e-commerce companies. Unlike ordinary warehouses that simply store products to be distributed at a later time, fulfilment centres temporarily hold items that are meant to be packed and delivered to customers faster.
The global e-commerce fulfilment services market is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 9.5 per cent to hit about $195 billion by 2030, from $86.4 billion in 2021, according to Grand View Research.
While noon already has a facility at Kezad, it decided to expand its operations to a larger area by using Kezad Group’s build-to-suit service, which will facilitate the design and delivery of noon’s facility.
The development has been tailor made to meet the company’s specific operational requirements, helping to reduce costs, boost productivity and offer essential supply chain efficiencies, the statement said.
Additionally, the completed facility will be a sustainable building conforming to Estidama 2 Pearl rating which incorporates initiatives to enable water, energy and waste minimisation.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (Adio) is providing Noon with financial and non-financial incentives as part of the continued expansion of Abu Dhabi’s fast-growing information and communications technology ecosystem.
"Abu Dhabi’s e-commerce sector has taken another step forward with work commencing on the country’s largest fulfilment centre," said Abdulla AlShamsi, acting director general of Adio.
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How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
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MATCH SCHEDULE
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tuesday, April 24 (10.45pm)
Liverpool v Roma
Wednesday, April 25
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid (10.45pm)
Europa League semi-final, first leg
Thursday, April 26
Arsenal v Atletico Madrid (11.05pm)
Marseille v Salzburg (11.05pm)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
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- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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