Strategic agreement with Ningxia Forward Fund Management Company to build the Dh1.35 billion complex
Dubai Food Park (DFP), the region’s largest specialised food sector zone, will be home to a China-UAE Food Industrial cluster.
The DFP signed a strategic agreement with Ningxia Forward Fund Management Company to build the Dh1.35 billion compex that it says will significantly consolidate China’s stake in the burgeoning Middle East food industry and further expand bilateral relations.
The deal was cemented by Abdulla Belhoul, the chief executive Officer of Dubai Wholesale City, and a representative from Ningxia Forward Fund Management Company, on the sidelines of the third edition of the China – Arab States Expo in China’s north-west autonomous region Ningxia’s capital Yinchuan.
Spanning an area of 4.38 million square feet, the China-UAE Food Industrial cluster will be home to 30 food plants, including two Chinese catering companies and two advanced manufacturing plants for food packaging materials, the DFP said. The project is scheduled for hand-over two years after construction begins. A start date was not disclosed.
It will eventually comprise six major components: meals processing; packaged food processing; cold chain storage; production of food packages; e-commerce; a commodities exhibition; and bio-safety disposal of wastewater and wastes. Food processing will take centre stage within the plant’s operations. Seventy five per cent of the total project area will be allocated for factories, 17 per cent for warehouses and 8 per cent divided between offices and other facilities.
“The partnership between Dubai Food Park and China’s Ningxia Forward Fund Management Company reflects the global interest in entering Dubai and the UAE markets to benefit from the country’s world-class ground, marine, and aerial infrastructure as well as its strategic location at the crossroads between East and West,” said Abdulla Al Habbai, the chairman of Dubai Holding. “Through this new synergy, we aspire to cement long-standing relations with China to ensure the sustainable development of both our countries.”
