Today's official opening of the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi is a step forward for the emirate and for the UAE.
When Mina Zayed opened, 40 years ago, it too was a symbol of progress and a tool for modernisation. But times change. The 5.4 square-kilometre port that seemed so up-to-date when the country was new is insufficient for the 21st century. And expansion was blocked: Mina Zayed is wedged awkwardly into one corner of Abu Dhabi Island and has fast-developing Saadiyat Island next door. A commercial and administrative metropolis is not the right place for an industrial port.
Kizad, as the new port and its industrial-park hinterland are known, is on a vastly larger scale: when completed, it will cover 417 sq km, offering improved efficiency for trans-shipments and warehousing, as well as for the import trade and industrial exporting. (Mina Zayed, meanwhile, will be dedicated to the cruise-ship industry, a logical use for an urban port.)
No comments:
Post a Comment