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UAE Boosts ‘Self-Sufficiency’ Through Industrial Localization

UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan al-Jaber at the Make it in the Emirates Forum (WAM)
UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan al-Jaber at the Make it in the Emirates Forum (WAM)
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UAE Boosts ‘Self-Sufficiency’ Through Industrial Localization

UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan al-Jaber at the Make it in the Emirates Forum (WAM)
UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan al-Jaber at the Make it in the Emirates Forum (WAM)

UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan al-Jaber said that the COVID-19 pandemic and recent geopolitical challenges disrupted supply chains and affected the global economy, "an experience from which we extracted many lessons."

The Minister explained that one of the most important lessons is that "regardless of global economic conditions, enhancing self-sufficiency and resilience in vital sectors such as food, healthcare, and the sectors critical to ensuring business continuity and economic growth, is critical."

Speaking at the "Make it in the Emirates" Forum, Jaber explained that the Ministry focused on a set of strategic axes, aiming to create an attractive business environment for local and international industrial investors, support the growth of national industries, enhance their competitiveness and empower innovation and the adoption of advanced technologies.

It also aims to strengthen the UAE's position as a global destination for industries of the future.

The Ministry encourages financial institutions to offer competitive financing and administrative services based on quality, efficiency, and transparency as well as contribute to supporting the development of laws and legislations that help support and protect the national products.

"Our objective is to safeguard our national progress, leverage the legislative system, attract investments to our industrial sector, support local manufacturing, and create growth opportunities, with an ultimate goal of empowering our national economy and increasing the industrial sector's contribution to our GDP to more than AED300 billion by 2031," Emirates News Agency (WAM) quoted Jaber as saying.

The Minister indicated that a critical enabler of the work has been to research and identify priority sectors to achieve goals, which include food and agriculture, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, heavy industries such as aluminum and iron, defense, electrical equipment and appliances, and future industries like space and clean energy such as hydrogen.

He added that last May witnessed the launch of an Industrial Partnership between the UAE, Egypt, and Jordan.

The partnership leverages the competitive advantages of each of these nations to promote industry growth and achieve sustainable economic development.

"Most importantly, the partnership will provide new export opportunities for manufacturers and focuses on five promising industrial sectors, including food and agriculture, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, textiles, minerals, and petrochemicals."

The Minister announced that large national companies allocated nearly AED110 billion potential purchase agreements for local manufacturers.

The forum's sessions and exhibition will provide details of these products and industrial investment opportunities, and the unprecedented move will create opportunities for the growth of the national industrial sector, adding at least AED6 billion annually to the GDP.

Meanwhile, ADNOC announced plans worth AED70 billion for products that can be manufactured locally.

During the Forum, ADNOC signed agreements for local manufacturing opportunities worth AED21 billion with UAE and international companies.

ADNOC aims to purchase these products between 2022 and 2030 and invites the private sector to take advantage of this pipeline and invest in the UAE's manufacturing sector to produce the products locally.

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Business

IMF and Arab Monetary Fund Sign MoU to Enhance Cooperation

The MoU was signed by IMF Managing Director Dr. Kristalina Georgieva and AMF Director General Dr. Fahad Alturki - SPA
The MoU was signed by IMF Managing Director Dr. Kristalina Georgieva and AMF Director General Dr. Fahad Alturki - SPA
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IMF and Arab Monetary Fund Sign MoU to Enhance Cooperation

The MoU was signed by IMF Managing Director Dr. Kristalina Georgieva and AMF Director General Dr. Fahad Alturki - SPA
The MoU was signed by IMF Managing Director Dr. Kristalina Georgieva and AMF Director General Dr. Fahad Alturki - SPA

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference on Emerging Market Economies (EME) to enhance cooperation between the two institutions.

The MoU was signed by IMF Managing Director Dr. Kristalina Georgieva and AMF Director General Dr. Fahad Alturki, SPA reported.

The agreement aims to strengthen coordination in economic and financial policy areas, including surveillance and lending activities, data and analytical exchange, capacity building, and the provision of technical assistance, in support of regional financial and economic stability.

Both sides affirmed that the MoU represents an important step toward deepening their strategic partnership and strengthening the regional financial safety net, serving member countries and enhancing their ability to address economic challenges.

Business

Saudi Chambers Federation Announces First Saudi-Kuwaiti Business Council

File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
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Saudi Chambers Federation Announces First Saudi-Kuwaiti Business Council

File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT

The Federation of Saudi Chambers announced the formation of the first joint Saudi-Kuwaiti Business Council for its inaugural term (1447–1451 AH) and the election of Salman bin Hassan Al-Oqayel as its chairman.

Al-Oqayel said the council’s formation marks a pivotal milestone in economic relations between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, reflecting a practical approach to enabling the business sectors in both countries to capitalize on promising investment opportunities and strengthen bilateral trade and investment partnerships, SPA reported.

He noted that trade between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait reached approximately SAR9.5 billion by the end of November 2025, including SAR8 billion in Saudi exports and SAR1.5 billion in Kuwaiti imports.

Business

Leading Harvard Trade Economist Says Saudi Arabia Holds Key to Success in Fragmented Global Economy

Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
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Leading Harvard Trade Economist Says Saudi Arabia Holds Key to Success in Fragmented Global Economy

Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).

Harvard University economics professor Pol Antràs said Saudi Arabia represents an exceptional model in the shifting global trade landscape, differing fundamentally from traditional emerging-market frameworks. He also stressed that globalization has not ended but has instead re-formed into what he describes as fragmented integration.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, Antràs said Saudi Arabia’s Vision-driven structural reforms position the Kingdom to benefit from the ongoing phase of fragmented integration, adding that the country’s strategic focus on logistics transformation and artificial intelligence constitutes a key engine for sustainable growth that extends beyond the volatility of global crises.

Antràs, the Robert G. Ory Professor of Economics at Harvard University, is one of the leading contemporary theorists of international trade. His research, which reshaped understanding of global value chains, focuses on how firms organize cross-border production and how regulation and technological change influence global trade flows and corporate decision-making.

He said conventional classifications of economies often obscure important structural differences, noting that the term emerging markets groups together countries with widely divergent industrial bases. Economies that depend heavily on manufacturing exports rely critically on market access and trade integration and therefore face stronger competitive pressures from Chinese exports that are increasingly shifting toward alternative markets.

Saudi Arabia, by contrast, exports extensively while facing limited direct competition from China in its primary export commodity, a situation that creates a strategic opportunity. The current environment allows the Kingdom to obtain imports from China at lower cost and access a broader range of goods that previously flowed largely toward the United States market.

Addressing how emerging economies should respond to dumping pressures and rising competition, Antràs said countries should minimize protectionist tendencies and instead position themselves as committed participants in the multilateral trading system, allowing foreign producers to access domestic markets while encouraging domestic firms to expand internationally.

He noted that although Chinese dumping presents concerns for countries with manufacturing sectors that compete directly with Chinese production, the risk is lower for Saudi Arabia because it does not maintain a large manufacturing base that overlaps directly with Chinese exports. Lower-cost imports could benefit Saudi consumers, while targeted policy tools such as credit programs, subsidies, and support for firms seeking to redesign and upgrade business models represent more effective responses than broad protectionist measures.

Globalization has not ended

Antràs said globalization continues but through more complex structures, with trade agreements increasingly negotiated through diverse arrangements rather than relying primarily on multilateral negotiations. Trade deals will continue to be concluded, but they are likely to become more complex, with uncertainty remaining a defining feature of the global trading environment.

Interest rates and artificial intelligence

According to Antràs, high global interest rates, combined with the additional risk premiums faced by emerging markets, are constraining investment, particularly in sectors that require export financing, capital expenditure, and continuous quality upgrading.

However, he noted that elevated interest rates partly reflect expectations of stronger long-term growth driven by artificial intelligence and broader technological transformation.

He also said if those growth expectations materialize, productivity gains could enable small and medium-sized enterprises to forecast demand more accurately and identify previously untapped markets, partially offsetting the negative effects of higher borrowing costs.

Employment concerns and the role of government

The Harvard professor warned that labor markets face a dual challenge stemming from intensified Chinese export competition and accelerating job automation driven by artificial intelligence, developments that could lead to significant disruptions, particularly among younger workers. He said governments must adopt proactive strategies requiring substantial fiscal resources to mitigate near-term labor-market shocks.

According to Antràs, productivity growth remains the central condition for success: if new technologies deliver the anticipated productivity gains, governments will gain the fiscal space needed to compensate affected groups and retrain the workforce, achieving a balance between addressing short-term disruptions and investing in long-term strategic gains.