Abu Dhabi has been announcing industrial deals at pace, spanning automotive manufacturing and food production, banking partnerships and SME financing. The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) says the point is not the individual investments but how they fit together.
Rather than backing standalone projects, it is trying to build connected ecosystems, where financing, infrastructure, logistics, suppliers and talent are already in place for companies to plug into.
Here, Nadia Rashed, director of Outreach and Enterprise Development at ADIO, tells us about that ecosystem model, the ambition to reshape access to capital, why import substitution and supply chain resilience matter, and what success will look like for Abu Dhabi’s industrial strategy over the next few years.
Across your recent announcements, we are seeing financing partnerships, SME scale-up support and manufacturing investments coming together. How does ADIO ensure these initiatives operate as one connected ecosystem rather than standalone programmes?
At ADIO, we think about industrial growth through connected ecosystems rather than standalone investments.
The automotive sector is a strong example of this in practice. ROX Motor is establishing manufacturing capability, Motherson is strengthening supply chain depth, Overfinch is adding engineering expertise, and partners such as Borouge, Tahaluf and ACTVET contribute advanced materials, digital infrastructure and workforce development. Together, these elements and investments create an industrial platform rather than a single project.
The same model is being applied across other sectors. Financial partnerships with institutions such as Dubai Islamic Bank, Gulf International Bank, WIO Bank and Zelo Finance are improving access to capital; the Emirates Growth Fund is supporting SME scale-up; and manufacturing investments from companies such as BBC Coffee Roastery, Dolphin Group and Pipetec are expanding production capability and supplier depth.
The broader objective is to create environments that companies can plug into, where financing, infrastructure, logistics, suppliers and talent are already connected, allowing businesses to establish, scale and compete globally from Abu Dhabi.
With agreements involving banks such as Dubai Islamic Bank and WIO Bank, plus the integration of TAMM for referrals, what is the broader ambition for how Abu Dhabi wants to reshape access to capital for businesses setting up and scaling in the emirate?
The ambition is to make access to capital simpler, faster and more closely integrated with the wider industrial ecosystem. One of the biggest challenges businesses face globally, particularly SMEs and manufacturers, is not always access to financing itself, but navigating fragmented systems while trying to scale operations quickly.
The focus is on reducing that friction and creating more connected pathways between businesses and financing providers.
Through partnerships with institutions such as Dubai Islamic Bank, Gulf International Bank, Numou, WIO Bank and Zelo Finance, ADIO is helping create clearer pathways between businesses and financing providers.
The integration with TAMM, Abu Dhabi Government’s digital services platform, plays an important role by creating a streamlined referral pathway that allows businesses to connect with relevant financing partners through a single channel.
The partnership with Emirates Growth Fund highlights a bridge between equity investment and expansion support. Is Abu Dhabi trying to position itself as a full capital-stack hub, from seed funding through to industrial scale-up and global expansion?
Abu Dhabi is increasingly building a full-spectrum capital environment that supports companies from early-stage growth through to industrial scale-up and international expansion. The Emirates Growth Fund partnership is a good example because it bridges equity investment with practical expansion support, helping UAE-based SMEs not only access capital, but also scale operations within Abu Dhabi.
That sits alongside broader initiatives spanning banking partnerships and supply chain finance solutions, industrial ecosystem development and export support programmes. We are working towards creating a more connected capital environment where companies can move from early-stage growth into manufacturing, production and international expansion. The focus is not only on attracting businesses into Abu Dhabi, but on giving them the financing, infrastructure and partnerships needed to grow sustainably over the long term.
We are also seeing very different sectors being activated, from coffee manufacturing and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) production to automotive engineering and heavy industrial expansion. What is the underlying sector strategy driving this diversification?
The underlying strategy is consistent across sectors. The Abu Dhabi Industrial Strategy (ADIS) is focused on strengthening industrial capability across sectors where we can expand domestic production, deepen supply chains and improve long-term export competitiveness.
That is why you are seeing activity across industries such as automotive, food manufacturing, advanced industry and industrial materials. In automotive, the focus is on building a connected ecosystem across manufacturing, engineering, supply chains and technology.
In food manufacturing, companies such as BBC Coffee Roastery, Agthia and Mars Food Industries are strengthening local production and processing capability, while industrial players such as Dolphin Group, MT Group and World Thermal Insulation are expanding manufacturing capacity linked to infrastructure and construction demand.
So while the sectors are different, the underlying objective is the same: build integrated industrial ecosystems that improve resilience, support localisation and position Abu Dhabi as a globally competitive production and export hub.
In cases like BBC Coffee Roastery and Dolphin Group, there is a clear emphasis on localisation of production and industrial capacity. How central is import substitution and supply-chain resilience to Abu Dhabi’s long-term industrial strategy?
Import substitution and supply chain resilience are becoming increasingly important because long-term industrial competitiveness depends on stronger domestic production capability and more integrated supply chains. The objective is not simply to produce more locally, but to create deeper industrial value chains across manufacturing, processing, engineering and industrial services.
What Abu Dhabi is building is a more balanced industrial model, one that combines local capability with global connectivity. By embedding more production and industrial expertise within the local economy, the emirate is strengthening resilience, improving supply chain responsiveness and creating long-term economic value across key sectors.
You can already see this taking shape across industries. Mars Food Industries is strengthening food manufacturing capacity in Al Ain, AQLON is establishing local smart meter manufacturing capability, and Pipetec’s expansion is advancing specialised coating and fabrication capability for regional infrastructure projects.
Together, these developments reflect a broader shift towards building industrial depth alongside industrial scale.
Looking across all these deals, what does success look like for ADIO’s broader strategy over the next three to five years? Is it measured in capital inflows, job creation, industrial output, or becoming a regional hub for advanced manufacturing and services?
Success for ADIO’s broader strategy goes beyond traditional metrics like capital inflows, job creation or industrial output, though these remain important indicators. The true measure of achievement is when our ecosystem partners themselves advocate to their peers that Abu Dhabi is unequivocally the place industries need to be to produce, innovate and export competitively from a single, connected environment.
We are already seeing this confidence take hold. Many of our partners say Abu Dhabi offers the right conditions for growth: integrated financing and world-class infrastructure, robust logistics, strong supplier networks, advanced technology, and high-quality talent. These elements are coming together to support not just individual companies, but entire sectors in scaling up and thriving.
The impact is tangible across automotive, advanced manufacturing and food production, where production capacity, supply chains, technology adoption and workforce development are now being built as part of a unified ecosystem, rather than in isolation.
Looking ahead to the next three to five years, our vision of success is for even more sectors to operate this way. We expect to see companies increasingly choosing Abu Dhabi, not as a standalone destination, but as an essential node in a connected ecosystem where they can accelerate growth, scale globally and build enduring industrial capabilities from within the emirate.
The momentum we feel today from our partners both validates our approach and shows that Abu Dhabi’s reputation as the place to be is already becoming a reality.
