Abu Dhabi (Etihad)
The Federal National Council decided to return the recommendations that emerged from the discussions of the session that it recently held and discussed
In it, the role of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology in developing the national industry is referred to the Committee for Technical, Energy and Mineral Resources Affairs, to include the members’ observations and submit them to the Council for approval and submission to the government.
The recommendations were to expedite the updating of Federal Law No. (1) of 1979 regarding the regulation of industrial affairs, and it is important that the draft law regulating industry affairs include the following: Determining preferential advantages for national products over foreign industrial products, such as (reducing energy prices, industrial lands, and fees, and obligating government agencies to apply preference in purchasing national industry products), in a manner that ensures the provision of legal protection for them to enhance the added value of national industries, standardize procedures, controls and operating fees for national factories, and the benefits and exemptions granted to them at the federal level, and establish specific and clear mechanisms and executive plans to finance and support projects and research Industrial innovation. The recommendations also called for achieving self-sufficiency and exporting some industries that represent national security, such as the health, pharmaceutical, and food industries manufactured within the country in coordination with the relevant authorities, and the rehabilitation of human cadres specialized in the applications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to find highly skilled professional cadres to fill new jobs according to the areas identified by them. The UAE strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the establishment of centers that support industrial innovation linked to universities and academic institutes, with the importance of providing incentives to support innovation.
The recommendations emphasized the importance of preparing legislation obligating factory owners to settle supervisory and administrative professions and limiting work in these professions to citizens only, with setting a minimum salary, imposing severe penalties for violating this legislation, and coordinating with technical and professional institutes and relevant authorities to offer specialized educational programs focusing on The skills related to the needs of the industrial labor market, and the adoption of a road map for the localization of the industrial sector, which begins with the localization of industrial machinery and equipment, especially technological ones, that are used in artificial intelligence.
The Council had discussed the issue during the fourth session of its third regular session of the seventeenth legislative term, which it held under the chairmanship of His Excellency Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Council, last Wednesday, January 26, 2022 AD, in Zayed Hall at the Council’s headquarters, and Hamad Ahmed Al Rahoumi, First Deputy Speaker of the Council, chaired part of it. .
Localization of the sector
Council members’ discussions focused on the axes of the strategic plan that the ministry seeks to achieve with regard to developing the local industry, incentives and grants to support national industries and protect them from foreign industries, and cooperation and coordination with federal and local authorities in supporting national industries.
The Council adopted a number of recommendations that dealt with: legislation, policies and strategic plans, technology and innovation, supporting national industries, encouraging Emirati exports, and localizing the industrial sector. The session was attended by Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology.