Non-oil sector sees Dh4.4bn investment
The UAE pumped about Dh4.4 billion into the non-oil manufacturing sector in 2008 to signal a sharp recovery in such investments after a slowdown over the previous two years, according to official figures.
Dubai was the largest investor in industrial projects last year while all other emirates recorded an upturn in such activities, the Ministry of Economy said.
From Dh72.6bn at the end of 2007, total investments in the non-oil industrial sector surged to Dh77.04bn at the end of 2008.
It was the highest capital to be pumped into industry in three years as investments stood at Dh2.6bn in 2007 and Dh2.2bn in 2006.
Industrial investments during those two years were sharply lower than in 2005, when they surged by Dh6bn.
The figures showed capital investment in the UAE's manufacturing sector hit an all-time high of Dh19bn in 2004, when it rocketed to Dh62.9bn at the end of 2004 from Dh43.6bn at the end of 2003.
The report gave no reason for that leap but a breakdown showed most of the increase in 2004 was in industrial investment in Abu Dhabi, when it shot up to Dh34.3bn from Dh15.6bn, an increase of Dh18.7bn.
In 2008, Dubai was the largest industrial investor, with a capital of Dh1.8bn, followed by Abu Dhabi, with nearly Dh900 million. In terms of total cumulative capital invested in the industrial sector, Abu Dhabi was on top of the list, with Dh39.8bn, more than half the total investments in the country's non-oil manufacturing sector.
They stood at Dh18.9bn in Dubai, Dh6.01bn in Fujairah, Dh4.9bn in Ras Al Khaimah, Dh4.2bn in Sharjah, Dh1.5bn in Ajman and the rest in Umm Al Quwain, according to the ministry's report.
It showed the capital is invested in 4,219 industrial projects, including 1,718 in Dubai, 1,210 in Sharjah and 328 in Abu Dhabi.
Experts said Abu Dhabi has the highest industrial investment despite the low number of units was because a large part of them have relatively high capital.
A breakdown showed food and beverage have the lion's share of the industrial investments in the UAE, receiving Dh22.1bn.
Other key sectors are chemicals and plastics, with a capital of Dh16.7bn, and non-metallic mineral products, with a capital of nearly Dh11.6bn.
Investments stood at Dh7.5bn in basic metal industries, Dh5.8bn in machinery and equipment, and Dh2.03bn in paper products.
Like other Gulf oil producers, the UAE has been locked in a long-standing drive to build an industrial sector within a long-term programme to lessen reliance on unpredictable crude export earnings.
The bulk of its industrials are small and medium enterprises as it lacks technology for heavy industry.
The drive has paid off in terms of industrial exports, with surged above Dh20bn in 2008 from less than Dh5bn in 1995.
The manufacturing sector has also become the third largest component of the country's gross domestic product, accounting for around 12 per cent in 2008, third only to the hydrocarbon and trade sectors.
By the end of 2008, the UAE had the second largest manufacturing sector in the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), with its industrial investments accounting for around 16 per cent of the total manufacturing capital of $130bn (Dh477bn) pumped by the 28-year-old Gulf group. Saudi Arabia controlled more than 70 per cent of those investments.
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