His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, issued Federal Decree Law No. 25 of 2022, regarding the organization and development of industry, which supports the organization and development of the industrial sector in the country, and provides the necessary flexibility to adopt more supportive policies and provide incentives to empower the industrial sector. Increasing investment attractiveness, and facilitating procedures to encourage local and foreign investment in industrial activities at the state level, in coordination and integration with the relevant federal and local departments.
The decree-law will enter into force as of next January 2023, and it will be applied to all industrial activities in the country, including free, economic and specialized zones. The state level includes an integrated database of industrial projects to determine their contributions to the national economy and to provide technical support to manufacturers through feasibility studies and evaluation of potential investment opportunities.
The decree-law also enhances the role of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology in investment promotion and representation of the state externally in industry-related fields, increasing the uses of advanced technology solutions and applications in the industrial sector and the solutions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and future industries, and stimulating innovation, research and development, which is reflected in the quality of production outputs, and in a manner that enhances the program The national added value of the industrial sector.
The decree-law supports the international agreements in which the UAE participates, such as the agreements of the World Trade Organization and other international and regional institutions. Licensing free, economic and specialized zones by achieving integration in the procedures and requirements for issuing industrial licenses at the state level.
The decree-law promotes the integration of the legislative umbrella that supports the industrial business environment in the country to achieve growth, expansion and prosperity in the sector, and to enhance the mechanisms and tools that enable its growth and competitiveness, through infrastructure, logistics and technology that is the most efficient and flexible regionally, and in coordination and integration with all federal and local authorities, and consultation with partners from The private sector, through the Industrial Development Council and the Standards and Metrology Steering Committee as well as the National Committee for National Value Added.
Incentives and benefits
The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology will work with its partners from the members of the Industrial Development Council to complete the executive regulations and organize specialized technical awareness workshops for manufacturers and those concerned about the mechanism for implementing the decree-law, including all information and providing answers to any inquiries about it.
Through the industrial registry, the law enhances the role of establishments that engage in activities that contribute to achieving industrial integration in the vital and priority industrial sectors and strategic industries, creating economically feasible opportunities to support the national product, and feasibility studies and evaluations of investment opportunities under the umbrella of the law will support a number of sectors such as medicine and food and medical and agricultural technology, in addition to strengthening the existing industrial sectors in which the state has a competitive advantage, such as petrochemicals and minerals such as iron, aluminum and plastics, while stimulating future industries, most notably the hydrogen industry, aerospace industries and others.
The decree also supports the “Make in the UAE” initiative launched by the ministry to enhance the role of the private sector in the growth of national industries through legislative, regulatory and logistical capabilities and smart financing solutions, support export capabilities to enter new markets, and benefit from comprehensive economic partnerships signed by the state, and bilateral trade agreements In order to motivate and enable facilities based on advanced technology in industrial systems and solutions, facilities that implement sustainable manufacturing policies, and industrial facilities that are established in areas determined by the state for the purposes of their development and advancement.
The decree-law is integrated with a package of projects adopted by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, which includes a package of supporting and stimulating objectives for industry and investors in the UAE, supporting the growth and competitiveness of qualitative and priority industries and products to reach regional and global markets, and creating a supportive environment for advanced technology and solutions to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. and consolidating the UAE’s position as a global center for future industries.
Industrial Register
The decree-law created an industrial registry at the state level that includes an integrated database for all industrial projects to determine their contributions to the national economy and to provide the sector with the immediate data necessary to achieve the highest levels of readiness and provide technical support to manufacturers through feasibility studies and evaluation of potential investment opportunities. The Decree-Law specifies that it is not permissible to view the contents of the industrial registry or to circulate data and information recorded in it, or to use it by non-specialists of the Ministry’s employees, licensing authorities or judicial authorities, except in accordance with the conditions specified by the executive regulation. Procedures for industrial licenses, permits and exemptions granted to these establishments.
It will also promote the development of incentive measures to develop the uses of advanced technology and solutions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the industrial sector within the technological transformation program announced a few days ago, in addition to emphasizing the ministry’s role in monitoring all licensed industrial activities in the country, in direct coordination with the relevant local departments.
Establishments’ obligations
The decree-law defines the obligations of industrial establishments in terms of fulfilling the conditions of the industrial license and industrial production permit. It also defines the controls for the benefits and exemptions granted to the industrial establishment, as well as the mandatory specifications and standards issued by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, and not to do any actions that would change, expand, develop, or develop production or Merging the industrial facility into another industrial facility, dividing the industrial facility into more than one project, or changing the location of the facility except in accordance with the controls and procedures specified by the executive regulations of the law, which are currently being worked on through the Ministry, and the committees of the Industry Development Council that include all government and private concerned authorities .
The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology will work, in coordination with the relevant government agencies, with files related to production and a sustainable economy in the management and development of raw materials, and opportunities for growth of the circular economy, through efforts to recycle industrial facilities waste.
tangible initiatives and results
The UAE witnessed a qualitative leap in the industrial sector after the establishment of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology to supervise, stimulate and enable the sector’s performance with advanced technology, and launch the “Make in the Emirates” campaign, through a number of qualitative programs such as the National Added Value Program, which succeeded in redirecting more than 42 billion dirhams to the national economy, the “Industry 4.0” program and its initiatives, and the launch of the “Make in the UAE Forum”, during which the major national companies announced their commitment to providing 110 billion dirhams through potential purchase agreements, and also witnessed a review of opportunities to increase manufacturing in 11 industrial sectors Essentially, this will contribute an amount of 6 billion dirhams annually to the country’s gross domestic product. In the field of quality infrastructure, the UAE ranked first among the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, and 11th globally in the Quality Infrastructure Index for Sustainable Development, issued by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the International Network for Quality Infrastructure.
The UAE industrial exports amounted to 116 billion dirhams last year, in addition to enhancing integration in the quality infrastructure system, which includes standard specifications, metrology, accreditation, conformity assessment, control and market survey, which works for the continuous improvement of the efficiency and performance of the UAE industrial sector.
