Abu Dhabi announces Polymer Park

ding off a surfeit of capital and natural resources, Abu Dhabi, the fossil-fuel rich capital of the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) has announced plans for two new special economic zones: Polymer Park and Metal Park. According to a report in the Khaleej Times, the parks would work to attract private investors using tax and other benefits, with the intent to create a polymer-conversion industry, transforming newly expanded plastic resin production into the formation of finished products and subassemblies, as well as an area to convert aluminum and steel. Substantial investment in resin production by companies like polyolefins manufacturer Borouge (Abu Dhabi), which partners with Dutch firm Borealis, has greatly increased the small country’s resin capacity.

The paper reported that creation of the Polymer Park is advancing swiftly, with the potential to open in the first quarter of 2008, while the Metal Park is still in the conceptual stage. Both will be located outside Abu Dhabi’s Mussafah industrial estate. An increased emphasis on not only the refining of oil and gas into resins and chemicals, but the conversion of those into products, is being seen throughout the region, with the PetroRabigh joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo as another example (see MPW September 2007 Modern Executive for initial report.—tdeligio@m