By Rafiq Vayani
DUBAI: The ‘Future Manufacturing and Trade Summit 2017,’ hosted by Dubai Exports – the export promotion agency of Dubai Economy – and organised by Expotrade Global, was inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline & Group at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers today.
Following the opening, HH Sheikh Ahmed, accompanied by His Excellency Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of Dubai Economy, and Engineer Saed Al Awadi, CEO of Dubai Exports, toured the exhibition held alongside the conference, featuring innovative manufacturing technologies from 20 companies worldwide.
Earlier, Al Qamzi while welcoming the delegates to the Summit pointed out to the growing significance of Dubai as an emerging manufacturing hub and its impact on exports through the emirate.
“Over the past decade, the contribution of the industrial sector to Dubai’s GDP has grown between 11% and 14%, making it the third largest sector after trade and logistics. Today, there are 18 industrial parks in the Dubai emirate, eight of which are in the free zones, occupying 30% of the total industrial land. Many of them have integrated logistics activities, reflecting the emirate’s commercial and logistics framework,” Al Qamzi said.
Al Qamzi added that Dubai’s total trade – direct and free zones included – reached AED 1.2 trillion in 2016, and industrial exports had a share of AED 143 billion, compared to AED 132 billion, or about 9 per cent of the total, in 2015. Dubai’s non-oil foreign trade grew by 2.7% to AED 327 billion during the first quarter of 2017 even when the global growth rate stood below two per cent.
“Three of the sub-sectors targeted in the Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030 are expected to perform exceptionally in 2017 compared to 2016. Exports of Processed Foods is projected to grow 16% while a 13% growth is foreseen in Aluminium & Fabricated metals exports and a 11% rise in Machinery & Equipment exports,” pointed out Al Qamzi.
Dr Abdulaziz Istaitieh, Senior Economic Advisor, Policy & Strategy – Socioeconomic Development Department, The Executive Council of Dubai delivered the keynote presentation that focused on Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030 and how Dubai is being transformed into an industrial hub.
Dr Istaitieh commented: “Dubai is boosting economic growth and enlarging the diversification mix by focusing on manufacturing as a fifth strategic sector, along with trade, logistic, finance and tourism. The objective is to become a global platform for knowledge-based, sustainable and innovative industries.”
Eng. Saed Al Awadi, CEO, Dubai Exports, said, “This is our second Summit on the subject in line with our recent Industrial strategy and we are delighted to have such a large attendance of senior professionals and government officials from all over UAE, attending the same. The subjects discussed, especially those on industrial innovations and digitization of the manufacturing industry are very topical in light of Dubai’s acceleration towards the future through diverse initiatives. We look forward to a leap in adoption of IIOT (Industrial Internet of Things) technologies utilized in Dubai after this summit.”
Across two days, over 35 international and regional experts participating as speakers and panelists will deliver keynote sessions, case study presentations and participate in panel discussions on innovative tactics and effective methods to manage the challenges arising in operational processes, methodologies, and implementation techniques within the different industries in the manufacturing domain.
The first day of the event included cover sessions on a wide range of interesting topics, including the next generation platform for trade, manufacturing and logistics presented by Mustafa Khdair, Senior Manager – Commercial, KIZAD; industry 4.0 presented by Dr. Michaela Colla, Director – Industry 4.0, Volkswagen, Germany; the future of manufacturing & trade with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform presented by Olivier Leteurtre, Managing Director, Dassault Systèmes EUROWEST, France, and intelligent manufacturing highlighted by Ali Al Jassim, CEO, Etihad ESCO, UAE.
Mr. Brad Hariharan, Regional Director, Expotrade Middle East, said, “We are honoured to organize this event along with Dubai Exports and are extremely thankful for their support. It gives us great pleasure to offer a forum for all stakeholders within the manufacturing industry to come together and share their knowledge and experiences to improve the manufacturing processes within the region.”
Lighthouse, Taiprora, Dassault Systemes, Daifuku, Bosch, Rockwell Automation, Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), Schneider Electric and Al Saja’a Industrial Oasis are showcasing the innovative solutions and the latest technology for the manufacturing industry along with ABB, Kawasaki Robots, and FANUC, amongst others.
The second day of the summit will focus on topics pertaining to supply chain excellence, energy efficient industries, driving operational excellence, big data as a bridge, smart manufacturing future, virtual production systems and digital transformation in manufacturing.
