Embraer, a leading global aerospace company based in Brazil, and Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala Investment Company have signed an agreement to jointly explore long-term collaboration in aerospace manufacturing, maintenance, research and workforce development.
The agreement was signed by Dimas Douglas Tomelin, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer of Embraer S.A, and Amer Siddiqui, Executive Director at Mubadala's UAE Investments Platform at the Farnborough International Airshow.
The partnership draws on the UAE's integrated aerospace ecosystem, which spans aerostructures, advanced materials, MRO, and aviation services.
As leading aircraft manufacturers streamline their supplier bases in favour of fewer, larger partners capable of delivering across the value chain, this agreement puts that integrated capability into action. Workforce development is a core pillar of the agreement.
The deal outlines co-operation across aircraft supply, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), human capital development, and research and development.
At the center of the collaboration are two of the UAE's flagship aerospace businesses.
For Sanad, the Abu Dhabi MRO specialist serving more than 40 global airlines, the agreement opens the opportunity to provide MRO services, with potential to regional expansion across the GCC and Samena markets as demand grows, said the statement.
For Strata Manufacturing, the Al Ain-based aerostructures producer whose components fly on main aircraft OEMs worldwide, it establishes a pathway toward tier-one supplier status on Embraer platforms, alongside participation in Embraer's aircraft programs across aerostructures, advanced materials and components, it stated.
Strata's workforce is 68% Emirati, and the partnership is designed to deepen that national capability further, it added.
As part of the agreement, Embraer and Mubadala will develop training programmes for Emirati engineers and aerospace professionals, including technical training, knowledge transfer and placements at Embraer's facilities.
The duo will jointly plan the research and development of next-generation aerostructures technologies, including composites, additive manufacturing and high-temperature alloys, with the ambition of creating a co-located innovation hub to accelerate prototyping and bring new technologies to industrial scale.
“The UAE is a strategic partner for Embraer, and we believe this collaboration presents significant opportunities to advance industrial and technological capabilities in the country and strengthen Embraer content in the country and in the Middle East for future businesses opportunities for Embraer portfolio,” remarked Francisco Gomes Neto, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Embraer.
“By combining our expertise with the UAE’s vision for innovation and growth, we look forward to building a strong and mutually beneficial partnership in the years ahead,” he added.
On the partnership, Dr. Bakheet Al Katheeri, the CEO of Mubadala's UAE Investments Platform, said: "For two decades, Mubadala’s UAE Investments platform has backed the capabilities the nation must build and own to secure its future, in service of a vision set by our leadership to build an economy defined by resilience and global competitiveness.”
“Aerospace has always been part of that conviction. This agreement with Embraer is a natural extension of it. It connects the depth we have built across our aerospace businesses to one of the industry's great manufacturers, and it reflects a broader principle that guides everything we do: invest early, build locally, and prepare ahead of need,’ he added.-TradeArabia News Service