First Industrial City opens in Al Ain

The Al Ain Industrial City has been developed by ZonesCorp, an authority committed to the promotion of investment in the industrial sector of the Abu Dhabi Emirate.

Following the success of the Abu Dhabi Industrial Cities, ZonesCorp has continued its partnership with the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) and Macquarie.

ADCB and Macquarie Joint Venture has now delivered the first of two planned high-quality infrastructure developments in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.

The development was delivered ahead of time and within budget.

His Highness Sheikh Tahnoon expressed his delight at the success of the project: "I am very pleased to launch the first Al Ain Industrial City. It will underpin the sustainable growth of the Al Ain industrial sector, which is of vital importance to providing increased job opportunities for skilled labour and national manpower in the Emirate."

His Highness Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court and Chairman of ZonesCorp stated on behalf of ZonesCorp, "AAIC is the first of ZonesCorp's industrial cities planned for Al Ain. It evidences our commitment to supporting the ongoing economic development of the city and the Emirate and providing opportunities for local, regional and global companies to easily establish businesses in world-class facilities with ready access to international markets."

His Highness Sheikh Hamed commented, "There is a huge demand for high quality well-planned industrial space in Al Ain, with more than 100 AAIC sites already leased or under offer. With the recent launch of several industrial cities in Abu Dhabi and now the AAIC in Al Ain, it's clear that the Emirate is embarking on a period of sustained construction and development growth. ZonesCorp is ready to support this by offering a second stage which covers a further 5 sq km, creating 10 sq km in total of industrial city space in Al Ain under the same public/private partnership (PPP) model which has proved so successful."

ZonesCorp CEO Engineer Jaber Hareb al Khaili spoke about the project saying,"AAIC, a 5 sq km site in Madina Sanaya District (south of Zakher), is only 20 km from the heart of the city of Al Ain. CEO of Z onesCorp, Engineer Jaber Hareb said, "Its location makes it very easy for our industrial clients to access the main freight road link between Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai. The industrial estate has 300 commercial plots and incorporates 30 km of surfaced road, 23km of sewer mains along with a sewer pumping station on the site, and an irrigation system which utilises recycled water to irrigate the landscaping.

AAIC is a response to the directives of our leaders in Abu Dhabi to diversify the sources of our national economy, to enhance the role of the public & private sectors to participate actively in the process of economic development, and at the same time meet the industrial needs of the Al Ain area."

Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri, Chairman of ADCB congratulated the ADCB Macquarie Joint Venture on delivering Al Ain and said: "ADCB with Macquarie are proud to support the ambitious vision of the Abu Dhabi Government. It is pleasing to see that the PPP model that has been adopted is delivering tangible results.
"In an environment where rapid growth is occurring, access to technical competencies and creative financial solutions is imperative. The PPP model provides access to both, while at the same time efficiently transferring the risk of project delivery and development on to the private sector.

"The joint venture between ADCB and Macquarie, working with ZonesCorp, is a perfect example of how the private and public sector can leverage each another's strengths to create world class assets and great investment opportunities. We look forward, very much, to continuing our support of strategic business development through ZonesCorp in Al Ain,' Chairman Saeed said.