Dubai signs $367.5m deal with China’s Ningxia for food cluster

Dubai’s recently announced food sector zone has signed a Dhs1.35bn ($367.5m) investment agreement with Ningxia Forward Fund Management to build a China-UAE food cluster in the emirate.

Dubai Food Park said the deal, signed at the Arab States Expo in China’s Yinchuan, would “consolidate China’s stake in the burgeoning food industry” and expand bilateral ties.

The cluster will span 4.38 million square feet and be home to 30 food plants, including two Chinese catering companies and two advanced manufacturing plants for food packaging materials.

It will comprise meals processing, packaged food processing, cold chain storage and food packaging areas, as well as an e-commerce and commodities exhibition and a biosafety component to dispose of wastewater and food waste.

Around 75 per cent of the total project area will comprise of factories, 17 per cent for warehouses and 8 per cent for offices and other facilities.

Construction is expected to take two years, although no start date was announced.

“The partnership between Dubai Food Park and China’s Ningxia Forward Fund Management Company reflects the global interest in entering Dubai and the UAE markets to benefit from the country’s world-class ground, marine, and aerial infrastructure as well as its strategic location at the crossroads between East and West,”
said Dubai Holding chairman Abdulla Al Habbai.

“Through this new synergy, we aspire to cement long-standing relations with China to ensure the sustainable development of both our countries.”

Dubai Food Park is expected to enter similar strategic partnerships with other countries to boost the UAE’s export industries.

Read: Dubai’s ruler unveils blueprint for $1.5bn Food Park

The $1.5bn park was unveiled in July and is expected to cover 48 million square feet within Dubai Wholesale City when completed.

There are 4,000 Chinese companies registered in the UAE, with non-financial foreign investment from the country increasing 352 per cent in the first nine months of the year.