|By Arabian Post Staff| Groundbreaking for the UAE’s first tyre manufacturing plant by Chinese tyre company Roadbot was performed at KIZAD, Abu Dhabi’s industrial hub and part of Abu Dhabi Ports.
Developed with a total investment of AED 2.2 billion ($614.37 million), the Roadbot factory is being built in KIZAD’s China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation Demonstration Zone in line with international standards and equipped with latest innovative solutions in tire production. It will be fully operational by October 2020.
The 2.2 square kilometre Demonstration Zone is being developed by Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Cooperation and Investment Company (JOCIC), and Roadbot becomes the first Chinese firm to set up there since JOCIC and Abu Dhabi Ports signed a 50-year agreement in 2017. The Roadboat project was launched last year during the visit of Chinese Premier Xi Jinping to the UAE.
Across 275,000 square metres, the factory will have an initial annual production capacity of 3 million Passenger Car Radial (PCR) tires and 1 million Truck and Bus Radial (TBR) tires; with production increasing to 10 million PCR tires and 1 million Truck and Bus Radials by 2022. The facility strengthens Abu Dhabi’s unique position in the regional original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and replacement tire markets.
Roadbot is expected to connect Abu Dhabi to global and regional automotive manufacturing demand; joining over 19 Chinese companies that have signed agreements to invest over $1 billion in the demonstration zone established within the KIZAD. These companies have identified the value proposition that helped put Abu Dhabi Ports and KIZAD on the global trade map, especially in the context of the China’s Belt and Road Initiative.”
The factory will meet the global tire industry’s highest standards of design and construction, and, when completed, be an intelligent, fully automated, and eco-friendly plant. It will include alpine waterfalls and ecological gardens in the atrium, creating an inviting and encouraging environment for employees. The facility will also harness the latest technology to enhance productivity, such as the internet of things, logistics automation, smart equipment, equipment networking and system real-time data collection, and intelligent analysis.
Roadbot Tire Project KIZAD is set to play a major role in the UAE’s economic diversification and sustainability plans, creating up to 1,200 new jobs and supporting the development of an innovative and sustainable ecosystem for the automotive industry in the UAE, the company announced.
The longstanding economic relationship between China and UAE was recently strengthened with the official inauguration of the CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal at Khalifa Port; positioning Abu Dhabi as the regional hub for COSCO’s global network of 36 ports and further connecting the Emirate to the major trade hubs along the Belt and Road Initiative.
Currently, several automotive projects are based at KIZAD, with the industrial zone acting as a regional mega hub for Completely Built Up (CBU) logistics for Al Futtaim and Ghassan Aboud Cars. Through Autoterminal Barcelona’s RoRo/Car Terminal at Khalifa Port, KIZAD and Khalifa Port are positioned to become a regional hub for commercial car trade routes in the Gulf, East Africa and the Red Sea. Currently global automotive brands such as Toyota, Jeep, Dodge, Fiat, Honda operate volumes out of KIZAD’s automotive cluster.
Also published on Medium.
