Industry & Energy
From The Report: Sharjah 2017
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With limited oil and gas resources by regional standards, Sharjah has had to look to other sectors to build a robust and diversified economy. Chief among these has been industry and manufacturing, and the emirate has emerged as an important centre for industry in the Middle East, with the sector contributing around 17% of its GDP and around one-third of manufacturing activity in the UAE as a whole.

This chapter contains interviews with Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, Chairman, Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and Majid Jafar, CEO, Crescent Petroleum.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Get to work: Local free zones and a welcoming business environment contribute to a thriving sector
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With limited oil and gas production by regional standards, Sharjah has had to look to other sectors to build a robust and diversified economy. Prominent among these has been industry and manufacturing, and the emirate has emerged as an important Middle Eastern industrial hub, with the sector accounting for around 17% of Sharjah’s GDP and around a third of manufacturing activity in the UAE as a whole. Free Zones Much of Sharjah’s industrial activity is concentrated in two free zones that allow…

Analysis

In the works: A number of firms are looking to enter the emirate’s manufacturing segment
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Manufacturing accounted for 16.5% of Sharjah’s GDP in 2015, making it the second-largest of the seven individual sectors for which data is available, behind real estate with 22%, according to ratings agency Moody’s November 2016 outlook for the emirate. The figure is broadly unchanged in recent years, having consistently stood at between 16% and 17% of GDP. The emirate has outsized importance as a national manufacturing hub: despite the small size of its population and broader economy, it accounts…

Interview

Key ingredient: Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, Chairman, Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on reducing obstacles to growth
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Interview: Abdullah Sultan Al Owais How have advances in connectivity improved Sharjah’s reputation as a manufacturing base? ABDULLAH SULTAN AL OWAIS: One of the key ingredients necessary for manufacturing to thrive in any market is connectivity. Sharjah, which accounts for a third of the UAE’s overall manufacturing output, has a top-notch transportation and logistics network that is continually being improved, which contributes to its success in the space. New highways, for example, have…

Interview

Maximising value: Majid Jafar, CEO, Crescent Petroleum, on increasing the role of the private sector and driving regional development
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Interview: Majid Jafar What are the competitive advantages of Sharjah as a base for regional players in both the upstream and downstream segments? MAJID JAFAR: Sharjah does not have the same scale of hydrocarbons reserves as, for example, Abu Dhabi or Kuwait. But what it does have – which is very positive not just for oil and gas, but for other sectors as well – is that it is completely open to the private sector. There is no crowding out by or competition from the state, which you have in…

Analysis

Land of plenty: New environmental projects and investments are presenting numerous opportunities
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The UAE federal government is hoping to attract $100bn in investment in environmental enterprises into the country by 2020. On the emirate level, the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) estimates the emirate’s environmental market potential at Dh960m ($261.4m) in 2017 and that it will grow to Dh1.13bn ($307.7m) by 2020. According to Shurooq, key components of the sector are renewable energy generation and sustainable energy efficiency solutions. The government has identified…