The industrial sector in Abu Dhabi witnessed 8 major initiatives to enhance the ease of doing business and grant direct facilities to launch and operate industrial projects during 2019. The year 2019 witnessed the activation of a number of these initiatives, while the local departments completed a number of other
The industrial sector in Abu Dhabi witnessed 8 major initiatives to enhance the ease of doing business and grant direct facilities to launch and operate industrial projects during 2019. The year 2019 witnessed the activation of a number of these initiatives, while the local departments completed a number of other initiatives to stimulate the movement of citizen and foreign capital towards launching projects Industrial select it.
The initiatives aimed at reducing the cost of production, simplifying licensing procedures, establishing factories, strengthening legislative aspects to attract investment and controlling the sector, in addition to working on developing labor housing.
Initiatives to reduce industrial costs included the launch of a comprehensive system of customs exemption for industry inputs, which provides for industrialists to obtain exemption through two steps that include the customs declaration and the immediate approval and payment of the required fees for the previous period, which used to cost two working days, whereas the procedures before that required A detailed study of each application submitted separately. This step enabled beneficiaries to determine their needs of imported materials for the inputs of their industries, and at the same time contributed to the ease of obtaining statistical data electronically.
According to the Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi, the new system targets imported industry inputs of raw materials, machinery, equipment and spare parts, which effectively contributes to reducing the burdens of manufacturing costs on local manufacturers, enhances opportunities for competition with national products and supports the economic prosperity and industrial development of the emirate. On the other hand, the Industrial Development Bureau in the emirate has implemented a program to stimulate the industrial sector through electricity tariffs through 3 categories to define a ceiling of 17 fils.
The office explained that the manufacturers benefit from the initiative and the extent to which a number of criteria are met, which are the extent of the economic impact of the factories concerned, and the high production rates In return for labor intensity, in addition to the standards of electricity distribution companies, the rates of settlement and employment of specialized national workers, and the office opened the door for registration for manufacturers already working in the emirate to complete the regulatory requirements for their inclusion in the system and obtaining the new energy tariff, which constituted their main requirement in recent years.
The Department of Development also authorized industrial establishments licensed at the emirate level to add commercial and service activities to their industrial license, and the decision permits industrial establishments to add activities that support and coordinate with the practice of licensed industrial activities, which include sale, installation, design, distribution, transportation, maintenance, import, and export.
Management and operation, storage, consulting, studies and research in the fields of natural sciences and engineering, provided that they are related to the licensed activities, as well as the activities of onshore and offshore oil and gas fields and facilities. The decision aims to expand service activities in the emirate and encourage industrial enterprises to expand their businesses and activities to achieve more profits while contributing to providing industrial products at the lowest prices by enhancing competitiveness among the various workers in similar industries within the sector.
The decision stipulates that any of these activities must comply with the regulations and regulations of the added activity in accordance with the requirements of the competent authorities, and the site of the factory and the activity required to be added should be harmonized with the availability of the necessary and sufficient space in the factory to practice it, in addition to non-interference between production lines and the display area in the event of adding commercial activities.
For its part, the Industrial Development Office has completed 5 initiatives that are being applied successively to strengthen the industrial sector in the emirate, including the initiative to establish a quota for the national industrial product within government procurement, the mobile licenses initiative and the controls initiative for industrial developers, the initiative to promote foreign investment and the initiative to house employees in factories. Reducing project stalling, the Specialized Industrial Zones established a number of industrial incentives, including facilities for granting lands, as well as increasing the time period for launching projects.
This step contributed to limiting the stuttering of launching projects by increasing the retention periods of industrial lands in the first period of launching factories, which gave industrialists flexibility to establish projects according to the variation in their quality and basic needs.