Capital plans new industrial city

A massive new industrial city is to be built in Abu Dhabi by the Higher Corporation for Specialised Economic Zones (ZonesCorp).

It will be developed at Mussafah alongside the existing three Industrial Cities of Abu Dhabi, or Icads.

"All the preparations for Icad IV have been completed and now the project is in its master-planning stage," said Jaber Hareb Al Khaili, Chief Executive Officer of ZonesCorp, a government authority that establishes and manages industrial cities for cluster industries.

"We are working on it and hope to launch it very soon. I don't want to give any more details now but everything will be revealed soon. It will be much bigger than the existing cities and will be located next to Icad III," said Al Khaili.

The industrial zones are being established under the Plan Abu Dhabi 2030. Icad I and Icad II have been developed from the old industrial units in Mussafah and brought under the management of ZonesCorp, while Icad III is a new city.

Icad III – which contains the Polymers Park plastic processing zone that was launched yesterday – is expected to be operational by early next year.

"It is under construction," added Al Khaili. "Fifty per cent of the work will be completed by the end of this year and the rest will be finished next year. The Polymers Park will be operational from early next year."

Icad III is expected to attract local and foreign investment exceeding $10 billion (Dh36.7bn), with $4bn – or 40 per cent of the total capital – attracted to Polymers Park.

"We expect huge foreign and local investment in Icad III and the rest of the industrial cities," he said.

Al Khaili said most of the proposed specialised cluster industry areas in the Icads, such as the Polymers Park, would be free of both tax and customs duties.

ZonesCorp is to build residential units for more than 800,000 workers employed in the industrial cities and surrounding areas.

Al Khaili said work on the housing project would be carried out as scheduled and completed in 2012.

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