New investment opportunities, including ones from recently announced industrial cities and free zones, are placing the UAE on track to become one of the most dominant players in Middle East manufacturing.

Already, the country has made impressive gains in the sector as part of its efforts to veer away from dependence on oil and gas revenues. Manufacturing’s contribution to the GDP climbed sharply to 15.4 per cent in 2003 from 8.5 per cent in 2000, while production firms grew to 2,795 from 2,1593.
And high-profile investments by local parties in the UAE and abroad have put the emerging Middle East tiger in the international spotlight, including the announcement that Dubai Holding, through its entity Dubai International Capital, had acquired a $1-billion stake in automaker DaimlerChrysler.
The UAE was earlier in the news over Volkswagen’s decision to divert some of its production facilities to Abu Dhabi.
At this year’s International Defence Exhibition and Conference (Idex), it was reported that the UAE would reduce dependence on military imports by building its own warships with Western technology.
The Abu Dhabi Ship Building Company (ADSB) is building four Corvette-class frigates for the UAE Navy and reports it has received orders from neighbouring states.
Abu Dhabi emirate has said it will seek investments of  $9.5 billion for developing a non-oil industrial base in its free zones. It has stressed it will create a strong manufacturing culture embracing key support services as well.
“Focusing on the industrial sector is not only about setting up more factories but also creating a comprehensive mechanism, including financing,” said Shaikh Hamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, chairman of the emirate’s department of economy.
The UAE’s industrial landscape is marked by new projects and expansions.
In a recent announcement, Dubai Investments said it would establish a $200.2-million float glass plant for converting sand and other basic raw materials into architectural and automotive glass.
A few months ago it had set up Lumiglass, an automotive windshield manufacturing plant that also has a glass sheet laminating line. Its third related venture, Emirates Glass, has been in operation for several years.
One of the Middle East’s largest production facilities, Dubai Aluminium, will soon seen a capacity upgrade to 850,000 tonnes, and says it will invest another $300 million for another upgrade in the next two years.
Emirates Iron and Steel Factory, capitalising on a big demand for steel in the brisk construction sector, increased its annual production capacity to 600,000 tonnes during 2004 from 3,40,000 tonnes in 2003.
Ducab’s Abu Dhabi plant is to be inaugurated this year, while Optiron has announced plans it will build a plant in Dubai’s Techno Park-2 to join one it already has in the first phase.  The new facility will raise annual production to 500 million all-format optical disks.
In Ras Al Khaimah, Falcon Technologies is setting up a $177 million industrial technology park that will have a Swiss company as partner.
The new technology park will produce recordable digital optical storage devices (DVD-R) and is expected to be among the five biggest such parks in the world.
Ras Al Khaimah has witnessed expansions in RAK Ceramics, the pharmaceutical company Julphar and several cement plants.
In the emirate of Ajman, Emirates Craft recently set up a 3,000-square-foot boat factory with a production capacity of 300 vessels a year.
“Initial production plans involve producing 200 boats for the first year and increasing that to 300 after getting the feedback on the locally designed craft,” said Sultan A Al Shaali, its owner.
Sharjah Airport International Free Zone (SAIF-Zone) has registered an annual growth rate of 35 per cent, which it says is due to its attractive packages for investors, unique facilities and accessibility to global markets.
The free zone now houses more than a thousand companies, up from a mere 55 when it started operations in 1995.
The national push for industrialisation is best witnessed in Dubai where the government announced in the past few months it would set up Dubai Industrial City, which its CEO Khalid Al Malik said was a strategic step for closing the imbalance between large non-oil imports and exports, 
In one of the best-designed industrial areas anywhere in the world, the city will concentrate on six key sectors, namely Machinery and Mechanical Equipment; Transport Equipment and Parts; Base Metals; Chemicals; Food and Beverages and Mineral Products. Business activity will be facilitated by the creation of separate zones.
Dubai Industrial City is being built to serve as a hub for 1.8 billion people who will constitute a market stretching across the Middle East and the Near East.
Every industrial free zone and enclave in the UAE has been looking at the same billion-plus market and implementing a national vision for broadening the manufacturing and supply base.
One example is the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (Jafza), which recently took part in an international free zones expo in Mumbai and impressed visitors from all over the world by its facilities. Expertise gained from marketing the free zone has motivated the Dubai government to take up prestigious contracts including managing ports and free zones in India, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
Jafza is contributing to the industrialisation momentum with its launch of a separate Food and Beverage Park offering state-of-the-art facilities for companies involved in food processing and packaging.
The food industry is flourishing in the UAE with increased tourism arrivals and a growing demand from hotels. Expanding populations locally and in the region are also providing the impetus to produce and supply food products and related items.
One of the developments certain to make a big impact locally and internationally is the creation of the Dubai Biotechnology and Research Park (DuBiotech), the world’s first free zone of its kind.
The potential for DuBiotech is immense, considering that biotechnology has grown in sophistication and reach and can spawn a multitude of specialist enterprises. The park will comprise two main initiatives – an industry cluster and the Foundation for Research and Innovation (FRI).
DuBiotech has already taken off in its serious quest with an MoU for two companies, namely the Dubai Stem Cell Technologies (DSCT) and the Dubai Centre for Robotic Surgery (DCRS) that was signed with a Singapore-based biomedicine pioneer Dr Susan Lim.
Trading activities in Dubai are bound to see an upsurge with the launch of the 13 million sq ft Dubai Design Centre, described as the largest home furnishing enclave of its kind in the Middle East. It will house supply facilities for furnishings, equipment and offices for architects and engineers.
“Dubai has compressed into a little more than a decade what has taken other cities centuries to develop,” said Mohamed Ali Alabbar, director general of the emirate’s Department of Economic Development and chairman of Emaar Properties.
Emaar Properties itself is branching out into manufaacturing following the recent launch of Emaar Industries. The company will leverage the strength of its Emaar brand as well as its immense business knowledge and marketing expertise towards its manufacturing division.
“The setting up of Emaar Industries fits into Emaar’s growth strategy and complements the UAE government’s drive to encourage the private sector to invest in light and medium industries,” said Alabbar.