Abu Dhabi Blog

Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corporation (abdic) and Bahrain’s Midal Cables will collaborate in a joint venture to build an Aluminum rod and conductor plant. Construction is set to begin by early next year and will be located at Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port & Industrial Zone in Taweelah.

Delivering 150,000 tons of aluminum per year by 2011, the Aluminum plant will receive it’s raw materials (molten aluminum) from Emirates Aluminum Company (emal). According to adbic’s administration we can expect more from their upcoming metals cluster.

News source: http://www.business24-7.ae/Articles/2009/6/Pages/28062009/06292009_b9ec464f62cc4bc6bbca735e0dfa8ac3.aspx

What’s Abu Dhabi ‘up’ to this week?? How about some serious aerospace ventures. Already this week there have been multiple major announcements to report.

Let’s start with the commencement of “Elite Aviation” servicing the Al Ain International Airport. ADAC (Abu Dhabi Airport Company) recorded it’s first direct flights to and from Germany’s largest cities Berlin and Dusseldorf yesterday. Mohammed Bulooki the VP of Airline Marketing for ADAC told reporters yesterday (quote below):
News Source: http://www.ameinfo.com/200405.html

“We are delighted to welcome Elite Aviation and Blue Wings joint venture to Abu Dhabi, the 46th airline to offer services from Abu Dhabi International Airport and the 5th new airline to begin operations this year. The airline has added two new destinations; Dusseldorf and Berlin to our route network.”

Next, ADAC made news in the announcement that they will allow “bavAIRia", the Bavarian aerospace group to build an aerospace cluster right next door to the Al Ain International Airport in Abu Dhabi. ADAC and bavAIRia will be exploring joint ventures in aerostructures construction, satellite navigation and training.
News source: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090615-707159.html

Feeling left out, Mubadala announced this week that they have landed contracts with top aerospace companies and plan to build an aerostructures plant in Abu Dhabi. Groundbreaking on the aerostructures plant is set for the end of this month and will be partially operational by Q4, 2010. The plant, which will be called ‘Strata’ will specialize in producing advanced composite aerostructures, mainly parts and assemblies for airbus aircraft.
News source: http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/UAE/248057

Abu Dhabi has begun implementing its new waste collection methods in the capital city this month. By the end of the month a total of fifteen underground waste collectors will be in place and in use. These underground waste receptacles will eventually totally replace the older, large above ground trash bins around the Abu Dhabi City. By 2010 there will be over one hundred of these underground waste collection sites. Underground the waste will be separated into waste and recyclable material.

This is a big step for Abu Dhabi in its efforts to keep the city clean as well as help out with environmental standards. Below is a short list of benefits from underground waste collection in Abu Dhabi (from Emirates Business 24/7 **)

- Eliminates odours and litter

- Keeps scavengers away

- Improves aesthetics and ensure a cleaner environment

- Makes segregation and recycling process much easier

- With a much bigger underground capacity, more waste can be collected

- Reduces the number of trucks to collect waste

- Data storage and swiping cards for opening the bin to help daily quantities from each building

- Using three different containers will help implement the source of separation concept

News source: http://www.business24-7.ae/Articles/2009/6/Pages/07062009/06082009_46d5ec497f8445a2ae4954035158812f.aspx

French President Nicolas Sarkozy visits Abu Dhabi Monday for the opening of Frances first military base in the Gulf region. Abu Dhabi and France signed a defence pact back in the mid 90’s which calls for annual meetings and joint military training sessions. France has been one of the UAE’s main military arms providers for quite some time.

This is a strategic move by France that has many implications seen by the international community. First, this will certainly put France in a good position to defend the Strait of Hormuz and other key waterways that are essential to the transport of crude oil from the UAE. Also, this is another action by Sarkozy that moves France closer to Iran. This new base may imply that he is serious about getting tough on Tehran and it’s nuclear programs.

French leaders are also hoping that this helps persuade the UAE to sign a contract which will help France replace it aging combat planes with new advanced Rafale jets.

News source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jZxh3GhaqMTkCLi3AX14yPsoBU_A

Abu Dhabi is chugging along with their expansion in both real estate and infrastructure projects during this down economic time. This is the reason that many UAE officials are very optimistic about a huge growth boom in the next couple of years. In fact even right now there are major housing shortages in Abu Dhabi, which is resulting in Dubai receiving much of the spillover tenants that need homes. Abu Dhabi is seeing more people commuting in from Dubai now than ever before.

Ahmad Abu Ghaida, Acting Director General of Abu Dhabi Economic Planning has been quoted saying that Abu Dhabi may see double digit growth in 2010 and 2011 as major Abu Dhabi developers move ahead with massive projects.

As I have always believed, Abu Dhabi has the right business sense to keep it’s economy stable and growing through smart, well thought out and concise real estate ventures, projects, and key acquisitions.

News source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/biz/inside.asp?xfile=/data/business/2009/May/business_May394.xml&section=business