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Officials at the signing ceremony

Abu Dhabi Ports signs major investment deal with China firm

ABU DHABI, July 31, 2017

Abu Dhabi Ports today (July 31) signed a 50-year Musataha agreement with China’s Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Cooperation and Investment Company Limited (JOCIC) for setting up projects in Khalifa Port Free Trade Zone (KPFTZ).

The projects are expected to bring in investments worth Dh1.1 billion ($299.48 million) into the free zone.

Abu Dhabi Ports is the master developer, operator and manager of the emirate's commercial and community ports as well as Khalifa Industrial Zone.

Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of State and chairman of Abu Dhabi Ports, signed a cooperation agreement with Huang Lixin, executive vice Governor of Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, said a statement.

The agreement with Jiangsu Province was signed to strengthen economic ties and build investment projects through joint opportunities for both the UAE and Chinese economies, it said.

Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports; Peng Xiangfeng, president of China Jiangsu International ETCG; and Luo Hua, general manager of Jiangsu Province Overseas Cooperation and Investment Company were the signatories of the lease agreement, it added.

Under the terms of the agreement, China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation (Jiangsu) Construction Management Co, a UAE company newly established by JOCIC, will occupy and develop approximately 23.7-million-sq-ft of the free trade zone for companies from the Chinese province of Jiangsu, said the statement.

This represents 2.2 per cent of the available free zone space in Kizad’s newly allotted KPFTZ area, it said.

Al Jaber said: “This investment agreement, which is in line with the directives of our wise leadership, marks a new step – in trade and partnership – to strengthen the ties between our two countries, the UAE and China.”

“Since the visit of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to China in 2015, we witnessed the relationship between the two countries strengthen in a number of areas, most notably in their economic and trade relations. A key development has been the commencement of the ‘Belt and Road’ and ‘Maritime Silk Road’ initiatives, which will foster economic growth,” he said.

“The UAE’s history is rooted in trade and lays claim to numerous world-class infrastructure projects. Standing as living testimony to this are Abu Dhabi Ports, Khalifa Industrial Zone and the recently launched Khalifa Port Free Trade Zone, all of which enjoy cutting-edge technologies that ensure speed, efficiency and effectiveness through an integrated system that supports the growth of the trade and logistics industry,” he added.

Al Jaber continued: “This agreement further cements our friendship with China, with economic development as our mutual goal. We are all in agreement that the partnership with Jiangsu will add value to the commercial and industrial activities at Khalifa Port Free Trade Zone.”
 
In addition to the signing ceremony, representatives from five Chinese tenant companies announced their plans to invest in the lease space, including Hanergy Thin Film Power Group, Jiangsu Fantai Mining Development (Group) Co. Ltd., Xuzhou Jianghe Wood Co. Ltd., Jiangsu Jinzi Environmental Technology Co. Ltd., and Guangzheng Group, it added.

The five companies signed with JOCIC as the frontrunners in taking advantage of the agreement’s highly competitive trade benefits. Combined, the new tenants will inject over a billion dirhams into KPFTZ, creating over 1,400 jobs, broadening the financial and physical scope of the zone while bolstering its ties to the “Belt and Road” initiative.

China is the UAE’s second largest trading partner and the biggest exporter to the UAE. The UAE is considered a gateway to about 60 per cent of China’s exports to regional markets at an annual volume of exchange of $70 billion.

Lixin said: “Jiangsu and Abu Dhabi are highly complementary to each other in terms of natural endowment, economic structure and industrial systems, bearing the common wishes to speed up industrial structural adjustment and promote economic transformation and upgrading.”

“It is good timing for us to jointly deepen industrial capacity cooperation and promote the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative, and we will have a broad prospect in this undertaking. We will work together with Abu Dhabi to build the UAE-China Industrial Capacity Cooperation Demonstration Zone into a landmark program of the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative and a beacon of UAE-China exchanges and cooperation,” Lixin added.

Al Shamisi said: “The Musataha agreement between Abu Dhabi Ports and JOCIC is one of the largest-ever lease agreements for Kizad to date. This investment will drive trade relations with Jiangsu and accelerate investment in industrial assets in Abu Dhabi.”

The Musataha agreement between Abu Dhabi Ports and JOCIC will attract foreign investment into Abu Dhabi – an ideal environment for investment opportunities due to the competitive advantages KPFTZ enjoys, including its strategic location, world-class infrastructure and logistics solutions, said a statement.

The lease promises to start a long-term, beneficial relationship between the two entities. It also includes the option for China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation (Jiangsu) Construction Management Co., Ltd. to establish and develop a further 107,639,100-sq-ft of free zone at Kizad Area B to meet additional demand by Jiangsu province businesses.

These signings are a culmination of the efforts to grow investments and create more successful partnerships between the UAE and China as trade and economic relationships between the two countries strengthen as part of the ‘Belt and Road’ and ‘Maritime Silk Road’ initiatives, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service




Tags: | China | investment | deal | Abu Dhabi Ports |

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