ADDED unveils a platform to enhance manufacturers’ access to financing

The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) has launched ‘Business Financing Facilitation Platform’ to enhance manufacturers’ access to financing as part of its initiatives to achieve objectives of the Abu Dhabi Industrial Strategy (ADIS) aiming to strengthen the Emirate’s position as the region’s most competitive industrial hub.

The ‘Business Financing Facilitation Platform’ is a new addition to the Financial Ecosystem Programme, designed by ADDED’s Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) to serve as a gateway for industrial investors, offering streamlined access to a diverse array of financing solutions and products. 

The ‘Business Financing Facilitation Platform’ enhances the efficiency of the financial process, allowing investors to choose tailored services and products from a wide range of financial and banking partners with just a few clicks.

IDB has partnered with multiple public and financial and development institutions including the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), Abu Dhabi IPO Fund (ADIPOF), Khalifa Fund For Enterprise Development, Emirates Development Bank (EDB), and Strategic Development Fund (SDF). In addition, the Financial Ecosystem Programme’s partners include export agencies such as the Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI) and Abu Dhabi Export Office (ADEX) as well as 14 leading banks. 

Eng. Arafat Al Yafei, Executive Director of Industrial Development Bureau (IDB), said: “The ‘Business Financing Facilitation Platform’ provides a unified platform enabling industrial investors to connect with multiple agencies, ensuring a seamless user experience, and enhancing their access to finance. It aligns with the broader objectives of ADDED to develop the industrial sector, which plays a vital role in Abu Dhabi’s next phase of economic diversification”. 

“A key component of ADIS, the ‘Financial Ecosystem Programme’ underscores the Emirate’s commitment to developing the industrial sector and enhancing its competitiveness. We believe facilitating industrial companies’ access to financing, and providing support at every stage of their development, will enable them to benefit from ample, promising opportunities in our business-friendly ecosystem to grow and expand out of Abu Dhabi, the region’s most competitive industrial hub”.

The ‘Business Financing Facilitation Platform’ and its impact on the industrial sector serves as a catalyst for a many positive socioeconomic benefits by fostering industrial growth, creating jobs, promoting innovation and technological advancement, growth of entrepreneurship and small businesses, and contributing to the economic development in Abu Dhabi.

The Programme is part of the initiatives devised by ADDED’s Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) to develop the industrial sector’s value chain through transformational programmes.

Abu Dhabi is investing AED10 billion in six programmes including Industry 4.0, Circular Economy, Talent Development, Ecosystem Enablement, Homegrown Supply Chain, and Value Chain Development to more than double the contribution to GDP of its manufacturing sector to AED172 billion, create 13,600 skilled jobs and increase the emirate’s non-oil exports to AED 178.8 billion by 2031.