UAE – Mubasher: Emirates Development Bank (EDB) has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Industrial Cities and Free Zone Cluster of AD Ports Group to provide financial solutions for the industrial sector in Abu Dhabi and the UAE.

Under the agreement, EDB will serve the industrial players of the AD Ports’ ecosystem in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD) and ZonesCorp to strengthen their ability to grow and expand, state-run news agency WAM reported on Thursday.

The financial solutions will be invested in constructing new factories, in addition to purchasing or leasing existing facilities as well as acquiring, upgrading, and maintaining the units’ physical assets.

CEO of EDB, Ahmed Mohamed Al Naqbi, said: “Our collaboration with AD Ports Group Comes within our broad strategy to empower the startup and industrial units, the EDB solutions will help bridge the funding gap for large corporates and SMEs operating in priority sectors in KIZAD. This will help support the UAE’s goals to build a robust knowledge-based economy and contributing to sustainable economic development.”

Head of the Industrial Cities and Free Zone Cluster at AD Ports Group, Abdullah Al Hameli, said: “The industrial zones in Abu Dhabi are currently home to over 1,500 businesses including some of the world’s leading global industrial players operating in a variety of sectors.”

He added: “Our partnership with EDB is aimed at broadening the support to our clients by facilitating the financing solutions to enable growth and expansion plans of industrial companies and contributing to the UAE’s ‘Operation 300bn’ Industrial strategy.”