During the third meeting of the Industrial Partnership for Sustainable Economic Development’s Higher Committee, companies from the UAE, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain signed industrial agreements worth more than $2 billion. Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and UAE climate change special envoy, attended the meeting in Amman on Sunday. Ahmed Samir Saleh, Egyptian Minister of Industry and Trade, Yousef Al Shamali, Jordanian Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply, and Abdulla Adel Fakhro, Bahraini Minister of Industry and Commerce were present at the meeting.
Twelve agreements were signed across nine industrial projects during the meeting. It is expected that the projects will create approximately 13,000 jobs and boost GDP in the partnering countries by more than $1.6 billion. The four industrial ministers from the four countries attended the signing ceremony of the partnership agreements with Jordan’s Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh.
The Egyptian company Soda Chemical Industries announced an investment of $500 million to produce sodium carbonate, soda-ash which is the main raw material in many industries, such as the glass and detergent sector. The facility will have a production capacity of 500,000 tons annually. A MoU was signed for a strategic partnership with the Emirates Flat Glass Company, owned by Dubai Investments, to purchase the final product.
UAE-based automotive manufacturer M Glory Holding announced the launch of a $550 million manufacturing project. The project will establish 3 electric vehicle factories with specialized production and assembly lines in the UAE, Jordan and Egypt. Production capacity will reach 40,000 compact crossover SUVs during the first three years of operation.
M Glory Holding has signed memoranda of understanding with the Jordan Design and Development Bureau and Egypt’s Arab Organization for Industrialization as manufacturing partners. In addition, it has signed memoranda of understanding with Bahrain’s GARMCO for the supply of aluminum sheets. As a result of the agreement, the partnership is aligned with sustainable objectives and the UAE’s presidency of the COP28 conference.
An Emirati investor-owned company, CFC Group, has announced plans to invest $400 million in establishing an industrial complex for fertilizers and chemicals in Egypt. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Jordan’s Arab Potash and Egypt’s Misr Phosphate Company for the supply of raw materials. An annual production capacity of half a ton of fodder and potash fertilizers, as well as 1.1 tons of chemicals will be available from the industrial complex.
Emirates Global Aluminum has announced a $200 million investment to establish a silicon metal plant with a production capacity of 55,000 tons annually in the UAE. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Jordan’s Manaseer Group to supply the company with crystalline silica. A magnesium oxide plant in Jordan has been expanded by the Manaseer Group at a cost of $70 million. Upon completion, the plant will have a production capacity of 270,000 tonnes per year, which will be exported to the United Arab Emirates. Emirates Global Aluminium will purchase its products. In 2024, production will begin.
Globalpharma, a company in the UAE, has entered into a partnership with Nerhadou, a company in Egypt, to develop advanced technology to manufacture medicines and supplements. A technology transfer agreement was also signed with two Jordanian companies, Savvy Pharma and Triumph. There will be a total investment value of $60 million for both projects beginning in 2023. The production capacity of each product will reach five million packages per year.
The Jordanian company Itqan has announced a technology transfer partnership and contract manufacturing agreement with Globalpharma and ADCAN Pharma to manufacture syringes, aerosols, and inhalers. Also, a Memorandum of Understanding has been entered into with Egypt’s Marcyrl to transfer technology for manufacturing bio-similars in Jordan at a total investment value of $10 million. This will enable the aim of launching products in Q4 2024.
With Jordan’s Dar Al Dawa and Egypt’s EIPICO, Alpha Biotic signed two Memorandums of Understanding to transfer knowledge and technology. In addition, Alpha Biotic will manufacture general products, oncology products, medical solutions, and other pharmaceutical products. In two phases, the project is expected to cost $174 million, with a production capacity of 350 million pills annually.
Gulf Biotech, another Bahraini company, has announced plans to establish a factory that will manufacture raw materials for vaccines and other products. The factory will have an investment value of $103 million and a capacity of 105 doses per year. A technology transfer agreement was signed earlier this month with Egypt’s BioGeneric Pharma.