ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - UAE Interact

114UNITED ARAB EMIRATES YEARBOOK 200632,481 employees or 14 per cent of the workforce. According to industry sources,more than 75 per cent of the garment-manufacturing establishments have nowclosed. Although labour-intensive garment manufacturing per se is clearly in astate of rapid decline in the UAE, the country is developing related aspects ofthe business, becoming a prime choice for regional offices of larger garmentexporting firms, inventory holding warehouses as well as trans-shipments.Apart from the manufacturers, there are still four weaving and spinning factories,and about 30 factories engaged in the production of textile furniture accessories,bed sheets, pillows etc., and more than 100 textile ancillary establishments. Thisexperience, expertise and specialisation in the industry is being harnessed to movehigher up in the garment supply chain.PHARMACEUTICALSThe UAE’s pharmaceutical industry is worth over Dh1 billion per year. At presentthe industry is heavily dependent on imports to meet customer demand, but agrowing manufacturing sector is also gaining strength. Only about 7 per cent ofimported pharmaceuticals are re-exported. The national market for pharmaceuticalshas been steadily increasing, partly in line with growing population and also relatedto improving standards of living. Regional demand also shows an upward trend.Pharmaceutical imports account for about 1 per cent of the UAE’s total import bill.Almost 90 per cent of the imported pharmaceuticals are in the form of medications,with the remainder being medical materials such as adhesives, dressings, vaccinesetc. The largest category of imported medicines fall in the general category (almost75 per cent), after which antibiotics form the single largest clearly definablecategory. Exports are largely within the MENA region, with Yemen being thelargest buyer, followed by Sudan, Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain and Iran. The top tenbuying countries account for almost 95 per cent of the exports.A major pharmaceutical company headquartered in the UAE is Ra’s al-Khaimah’sJulphar, whose sales exceed Dh500 million across 40 countries and four continents.The Julphar group owns six pharmaceutical plants, four in the Emirates, onein Ecuador and one in Germany. It also controls a Gulf-wide infrastructure ofdistribution and warehousing, pharmacy management, a printing and packaginghouse, a plastic dosing cup and aluminium pilfer-proof cap manufacturing unit,an environment-controlled transportation fleet and other service support units.ALUMINIUMAbu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) recently acquired a 40 per centstake in a new 325-kilotonne aluminium smelter to be built on the Batinah coastof Oman, at Sohar. It is in partnership in the project with Oman Oil Companyand the multinational aluminium company, Alcan. The project is expected tocommence production in 2008.