In a bid to increase UAE's industrial revenues to 300 billion dirhams ($81.68 billion) over 10 years, Dubai Ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan announced the plan on Twitter.
The 'Operation 300bn', a national industrial strategy aims to raise the manufacturing sector’s contribution to 300 billion dirhams from the existing 133 billion dirhams.
The strategy will be led by the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology. The primary objective of the strategy is to support development of 13,500 industrial companies and will help increase spending on research and development in the industrial sector from Dh21 billion to Dh57 billion in the coming years.
The leaders also announced the launch of the ‘Make It In The Emirates’ — the UAE’s industrial identity to support domestic manufacturing.
The Gulf States have accelerated their diversification plans post the Covid19 pandemic while reducing their reliance on imports.
According to the Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE) economic activity in the UAE has continued its recovery in the fourth quarter and the GDP growth is forecast to hit 2.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent, respectively in 2021 and 2022
The CBUAE estimates real total GDP growth for the year 2020 to be -5.8 per cent, with the real nonhydrocarbon GDP projected to decline by 5.7 per cent.