Oasis Water Company has introduced an improved version of its five-gallon bottle in the Oman market. The new bottles are embossed with the Oasis logo in English and Arabic to ensure authenticity. They will replace the existing bottles soon, the company said.
Safety vehicle introduced
Sharjah Civil Defence has introduced a locally manufactured small fire-fighting vehicle at the launch of its awareness and safety campaign during Ramadan.
Sharjah-based Emirates Firefighting Equipment Factory had made the vehicle to help the department respond quickly to fires.
The vehicle has been tested in controlling fires and it has been effective, department director-general Lt Col Ghareeb Shaban Hassan said. Sharjah Civil Defence displayed the vehicle off Khalid Lagoon. The factory's deputy general manager Ghazi Al Amori said the vehicle was very similar to ones used at airports for vast intervention. The vehicle costs about Dh15,000 ($4,084). It is also the first of its type to be manufactured by a national factory.
Spectro set for Gulf entry
Bahrain and Dubai have been short-listed as Spectro Analytical, one of Germany's leading producers of analytical instruments, plans to open a regional office within the Gulf. The firm, which makes equipment for a number of industries including chemical, petrochemical, food, water and oil, says a final decision would follow its participation in a key exhibition in Dubai in March, 2002.
Drugs plant planned
A Dh84 million ($23 million) pharmaceutical plant is being set up in Dubai by UAE investors and the Arabian Company for Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances (Acdima). A joint venture company will be set up within two months, followed immediately by implementation of the plant, which is expected take one and a half years. The plant will target hospitals in the region and neighbouring countries. Acdima offered the project during the ninth Conference for Arab Businessmen and Investors that concluded in Dubai recently. The pan-Arab firm also offered a dentistry medical appliances plant that could be based in Saudi Arabia, Jordan or Tunisia. The promoters of the Dubai project expect a 27 per cent return on investments within three years.
Hamriyah to have lens factory
US firm Polarised Lens Company is planning to open a manufacturing facility in the UAE. The company opened an office in the Hamriya free zone in March and is now preparing to introduce polarised ophthalmic lenses to the region during the Middle East International Optical and Ophthalmic Exhibition, to be held in Dubai from February 14 to 17, 2002. Polarised Lens is one of five companies in the world that makes polarised lenses which enable the wearer to see through sun glare.
Texmaco plant coming up
Indonesian heavy-vehicle maker Texmaco is setting up an automotive assembly plant in Sharjah's Hamriyah Free Zone. An MoU was recently signed between the Sharjah Free Zones Authority and the group. The projected investment level has not been disclosed.
The venture will manufacture buses, trucks, MPVs and agricultural equipment, primarily aimed at the Middle East and African markets. The facility will be spread across 200,000 sq m, with a composite capacity to produce 15,000-20,000 vehicles per annum. Construction will begin early next year. The project is expected to be completed by end-2002.
British team offers JV
A British industrial delegation visiting the UAE is offering joint venture and technology-transfer opportunities to the UAE business community as part of a Gulf Ventures programme. ACE Consultants, which received the delegation, said it had undertaken the Gulf Ventures programme as a joint venture with Leeds Met University of the UK. According to ACE Consultants, the programme offers assistance to international companies that are either seeking to explore trading opportunities in the UAE or establish new enterprises either through joint ventures or technology transfer in the UAE. The delegation comprises companies that are offering cutting-edge technologies both for technology transfer or joint ventures with interested UAE businesses, ACE said. Gulf Ventures features some 75 manufacturing technologies that are to be offered to UAE entrepreneurs seeking to establish small and medium enterprises.
Agusta setting up Qatar plant
Italian helicopter manufacturer Agusta will set up a maintenance and assembly plant in Qatar, an official said. An accord for construction of the plant was signed by an executive from the Italian firm and the Emir of Qatar's chief of staff, Shaikh Mohammad bin Saud Al Thani. He said the plant would initially carry out maintenance work on civilian and military helicopters and go on to assemble helicopters at a later stage.
Factories open in Qatar
Two factories - one producing Tunisian olive oil and the other a Qatari dates packing unit - have officially opened.
The dates packing factory was set up by the National Company for Food and Agricultural Manufacturing and Marketing, a local joint stock firm with a QR10 million ($2.74 million) capital equally paid by the private sector and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture. Equipment worth QR7 million was imported for the unit, which has a capacity of 800 tonnes a year. Production started a few months ago. The olive oil factory was set up by the Food Industries Company, a joint stock Qatari company which is 51 per cent owned by the National Company for Food and Agricultural Manufacturing and Marketing with the remaining stake owned by the Tunisian public and private sectors. The factory started production with a fully paid-up capital of QR5.6 million. With a design capacity of 5,000 tonnes a year, the company imports, packs and markets Tunisian olive oil to Gulf markets.
Apceco signs deal
The UAE's Fujairah-based Arab Poultry and Cattle Equipment Company (Apceco) has signed a technical agreement worth Dh4.75 million ($1.3 million) with a German firm for know-how on poultry and cattle equipment.
The pact allows Apceco to produce complete systems of poultry and cattle equipment on its premises in Al Hail, Fujairah. Apceco will be able to manufacture, market, transfer and install all kinds of cattle and poultry equipment to cover the requirements of the local and Arab markets. The company is expected to account for 35 per cent of the total annual demand of poultry equipment.
