Sunday, 2 September 2012

Kizad port expands economic horizons - The National

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.)

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