Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, and Bahrain have signed 12 agreements for 9 integrated industrial projects with a total investment exceeding $2bn in the sectors of agriculture, medicine, minerals, chemicals, and electrical cars, during the third meeting of the Higher Committee for Integrated Industrial Partnership for Sustainable Economic Development in Amman, Jordan.
Jordan’s Prime Minister Bishr Al-Khasawneh, Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir, the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan bin Ahmed Al-Jaber, Minister of Industry, Trade, Supply, and Labour in Jordan Yusef Al-Shamali, and Minister of Industry and Trade in Bahrain Abdullah bin Adel Fakhro attended the signing ceremony of the agreements.
The Higher Committee for the Integrated Industrial Partnership for Sustainable Economic Development has approved the recommendations and report of the Executive Committee, as the projects that have been agreed upon contribute to increasing local production in the partnership countries by a value exceeding $1.6bn and creating about 13,000 direct and indirect jobs.
The Egyptian company “Soda Chemical Industries” announced an investment of $500m to produce sodium carbonate “soda ash”, which is the main raw material in many industries, the most important of which are glass and detergent industry, with a production capacity of 500,000 tonnes annually. A memorandum of understanding was signed for a strategic partnership with the Emirates Flat Glass Company, owned by Dubai Investments, to purchase the final product.
In addition, a project was announced for the Emirati M Glory Holding for the automotive industry, with an investment value of $550m, to establish 3 integrated factories for electric cars with specialized production and assembly lines in the Emirates, Jordan and Egypt, with a production capacity of 40,000 crossover compact cars in the three years. A memorandum of understanding was signed with the Jordanian Center for Design and Development, Godbey and the Arab Organization for Industrialization in Egypt as manufacturing partners, and a memorandum of understanding with the Bahraini company Garmco to supply the necessary aluminum sheets for manufacturing, as accelerating the adoption of the electric car manufacturing project, and relying on alternative energy sources, is a model among the models that the partnership countries are working to adopt, in a way that enhances sustainability in resources and industries, and provides environmental solutions, with the climate challenges facing the world, especially since the UAE is hosting the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), where it will lead global efforts to develop practical solutions to the challenges of climate change.
The project of the “CFC” company for feed and chemicals, owned by Emirati investors, was announced to establish an industrial complex for feed and chemicals in the Arab Republic of Egypt, with an investment size of $400m, where a memorandum of understanding was signed for the supply of potash with the Arab Potash Company in Jordan, and the supply of phosphate from Misr Phosphate. The land has been allocated and a “golden license” has been obtained, and it is planned to start contracting work to establish the plant in July 2023 with the aim of reaching a total capacity of up to 500,000 tonnes annually for animal feed supplements and potash fertilizers, and 1.1 tonnes annually for chemicals. It is worth noting that the “CFC” School of Applied Sciences was established next to the factory land, which will begin in September of this year to receive middle school students in order to prepare technical cadres for the benefit of the company.
Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) also announced an investment of $200m to establish a metal silicon plant in the UAE with a production capacity of 55,000 tonnes per year. An agreement of understanding and cooperation was signed to supply raw silica with Manaseer Group from Jordan.
The Jordanian Manaseer Group announced the expansion of the Jordan Magnesia Factory at a value of $70m, to add two units of magnesium hydroxide in addition to calcium chloride products in Jordan, with a total production capacity of 270,000 tonnes annually, to be exported to the United Arab Emirates, and an agreement of understanding was signed with Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) to purchase the final product of the factory as a raw material for the aluminum industry, and it is expected that the production of magnesium hydroxide will start during the current year, and calcium chloride in the year 2024.
The Emirati company “Global Pharma” also entered into a technology transfer partnership with the Egyptian “Nerhadu” company to work on developing advanced manufacturing technology for the production of medicines and nutritional supplements in the UAE, in addition to concluding a technology transfer partnership with two Jordanian companies: Safi Pharma Pharmaceutical Industries, in the field of research and development of value-added medicines and to expand manufacturing and production, with a total investment value of the two projects amounting to $60m, and a production capacity of 5 million packages annually for all products. The project is scheduled to be completed and the products launched by the end of 2023.
The Jordanian company Itqan also announced a partnership contract for technology transfer and contract manufacturing with the Emirati companies Global Pharma and Itqan Pharma for the manufacture of injections, aerosols, and inhalers, and an agreement of understanding with the Egyptian company Markirl for technology transfer in the field of manufacturing biosimilars in Jordan with a total investment value of $10m. It is planned to complete the project and launch products in the fourth quarter of next year.
The Bahraini Alpha Biotech Company announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the transfer of technology, knowledge and contract manufacturing with the Jordanian “Itqan Pharma” company for the manufacture of general preparations, oncology preparations, medical solutions and other pharmaceutical products with a production capacity of 350 million tablets annually and a total investment value of $174m for the first and second phases of the project.
A project was also announced for the Bahraini Gulf Biotech Company to establish a factory for the production of raw materials for vaccines and the final product, with an investment of $103m and a production capacity of 105 million doses per year. A technology transfer agreement was signed earlier this month with the Egyptian company BioGeneric Pharma.
