UAE Boosts Technology-Led Manufacturing and Agriculture to Strengthen Global Exports.
Abu Dhabi: The UAE is advancing an integrated ecosystem that connects domestic production with quality standards, innovation, technology, supply chains and international markets, helping strengthen the competitiveness, resilience and sustainability of the national economy.
The strategy covers the entire production cycle, ranging from agriculture and food production to advanced manufacturing, branding, marketing and exports. It also aims to channel government and institutional procurement towards priority UAE-made products.
In April, the Cabinet approved the National Project for the Protection of Geographically Defined Products, an initiative designed to identify and safeguard agricultural, industrial and traditional goods whose quality, characteristics or reputation are linked to specific regions of the UAE.
The Cabinet also adopted a policy aimed at expanding the visibility and availability of national products across retail stores and digital platforms, while helping local manufacturers gain greater access to major supply chains.
In the agricultural sector, the National Agriculture Centre (NAC), in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), has launched the National Project for UAE Good Agricultural Practices (UAE GAP). The initiative seeks to enhance local farming standards, boost the competitiveness of UAE produce and facilitate access to new markets. It targets UAE GAP certification for 80 per cent of farms across the country.
Other initiatives include the National Agricultural Initiative for the Adoption of Climate-Smart Crops, which focuses on diversifying the UAE’s food basket and reducing dependence on imports. The Sustainable Product initiative, meanwhile, aims to increase the proportion of locally produced agricultural and livestock products used by restaurants and hotels across the country to 25 per cent.
In the industrial sector, the UAE has approved a Dh1 billion National Industrial Resilience Fund to advance the localisation of critical industries, enhance supply-chain resilience and accelerate the integration of artificial intelligence into manufacturing, operations and planning.
The UAE has also broadened the scope of its National In-Country Value Programme, making it mandatory in selected sectors. The move is designed to direct more government and institutional spending towards UAE-made products and deepen their integration into domestic supply chains.
The Make it in the Emirates platform also plays a key role in connecting investors, manufacturers and industry leaders with domestic production and investment opportunities. At the same time, ADNOC’s Local+ initiative gives greater preference to UAE-made products across its projects, supporting local manufacturing and supply chains.
Efforts to retain more economic value within the country have also been strengthened with the launch of the Al Taweelah recycling plant in Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s largest aluminium recycling facility. With an annual capacity of 185,000 tonnes, the plant enables aluminium scrap to be processed domestically into high-quality products with a lower carbon footprint.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology’s Factory Forward UAE initiative brings industrial technology transformation programmes and supporting measures under a unified framework. Initiatives within the ecosystem have supported more than 700 factories, while over 620 facilities have been assessed through the Industrial Technology Transformation Index (ITTI).
Alongside efforts to boost domestic production, the UAE is expanding international investments and strategic partnerships to better connect its national capabilities with regional and global resources, markets and value chains.
Collectively, these initiatives highlight the UAE’s focus on developing a more competitive, resilient and technology-driven production ecosystem. The strategy aims to strengthen the country’s ability to meet domestic demand, expand the global reach of UAE-made products and deepen its integration into international value chains.
