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UAE, Egypt, Jordon, Bahrain Sign 12 Industrial Agreements | |
| Sumita Pawar |
A report says companies from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, and Bahrain signed industrial agreements with an investment value of over $2 billion at the third Higher Committee Meeting of the Industrial Partnership for Sustainable Economic Development in Amman on Sunday.
Twelve agreements were signed for nine industrial projects in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, metals, chemicals, and electric vehicles, according to the governmental Jordan News Agency, Petra.
Altogether, the agreements and projects are expected to generate 13,000 job opportunities, as highlighted in the report.
Also, 35 ideas for new projects were sent to the executive committee so that they could be thought about for the future.They were selected from among the 100 private companies that participated in workshops at the event.
Jordan hosted this year’s event, and Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh attended the signing ceremony along with the industrial ministers of each of the four participating countries.
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UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, who will be the president of the COP28 climate summit, talked about the benefits of these meetings.In a statement by the Emirati government news agency WAM, Al-Jaber said, "This partnership is beginning to yield tangible results. It represents an exceptional model for industrial partnerships among private sector companies. It is testament to our collective ability to plan, integrate, and progress towards achieving our objectives."
Egypt's Minister of Industry and Trade, Ahmed Samir Saleh, outlined Egypt's commitment at the event as its economy reels from high inflation. Cairo has pledged to reduce the role of state- and military-owned companies. "The economic crisis the world is currently experiencing demonstrates the necessity of achieving industrial integration among Arab states." "It is clear we must strengthen regional partnerships and include the private sector as a major partner in implementing sustainable development plans and helping the Arab region prosper," he said.
Talking about the agreements in the report, Egypt’s Soda Chemical Industries announced an investment of $500 million to produce sodium carbonate, or soda ash, which is the main raw material in a number of industries, including glass and detergent manufacturing. The facility will have a production capacity of 500,000 tonnes per year.
A memorandum of understanding was signed to buy the final product from Dubai Investments, which owns the Emirates Flat Glass Company.
The report says that M Glory Holding, an automaker based in the United Arab Emirates, put $550 million into a big project to make cars.The project will establish three electric vehicle factories with specialised production and assembly lines in the UAE, Jordan, and Egypt. It is expected to produce 40,000 compact crossover SUVs during the first three years of operation.
M Glory Holding signed memorandums of understanding with the Jordan Design and Development Bureau and Egypt's Arab Organization for Industrialization as manufacturing partners and with the Bahrain-based Gulf Aluminum Rolling Mill to supply aluminium sheets.
The CFC Group, which is owned by the UAE, said it will spend $400 million to build an industrial complex in Egypt that will make fertilisers and chemicals.It signed MoUs with Jordan-based Arab Potash and Egypt’s Misr Phosphate Company to supply raw materials. The industrial complex will produce fodder, potash fertilizers, and other chemicals, according to the report.
Emirates Global Aluminum said it would spend $200 million to build a silicon metal plant in the UAE that could make 55,000 tonnes of metal per year.The company signed an MoU with Jordan’s Manaseer Group to supply the required crystalline silica.
As stated further in the report, Manaseer Group announced the expansion of a $70 million magnesium oxide plant in Jordan. Once completed, the plant will have a total production capacity of 270,000 tonnes annually, which will be exported to the UAE. It will sell its product to Emirates Global Aluminum. Production is set to commence in 2024.
Globalpharma, based in the UAE, teamed up with Nerhadou, based in Egypt, to develop new technology for making medicines and supplements.An agreement was also signed to transfer technology to two Jordanian companies: Savvy Pharma and Triumph. Both projects will commence in 2023 with a total investment value of $60 million. Production capacity will reach five million packages annually per product.
Itqan Pharma, a Jordanian pharmaceutical manufacturing company, announced a technology transfer partnership and contract manufacturing agreement to manufacture syringes, aerosols, and inhalers with Globalpharma and ADCAN Pharma.
Itqan Pharma also entered into an MoU with Egypt’s Marcyrl for the transfer of technology for manufacturing biosimilars in Jordan at a total investment value of $10 million, with the aim of launching products by Q4 2024.
Report concluded, Gulf Biotech, a Bahraini company, announced plans to establish a plant to manufacture raw materials for vaccines and other products at an investment value of $103 million and a production capacity of 105 doses per year. Earlier this month, it signed a technology transfer agreement with Egypt’s BioGeneric Pharma.
The fourth meeting of the Higher Committee for the Integrated Industrial Partnership for Sustainable Economic Development will take place in Manama next year.
Last year's event was held in Cairo, and 12 projects totaling $3.4 billion were announced.