Today's Edition
ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)
IHC, a global investment company focused on building dynamic value networks, concluded its participation at the Make it in the Emirates (MIITE) Forum 2026, showcasing a week of sustained activity across innovation, industrial collaboration, and partnerships totaling over Dh40 billion in commitments.
Over four days, the IHC Pavilion drew in close to 100,000 visitors and brought together more than 40 group companies, creating a focal point for engagement between industry leaders, policymakers, and global partners.
IHC delivered more than 60 Strategic Agreements and Partnerships, while hosting over 40 sessions featuring over 70 expert speakers, reinforcing its role in shaping the UAE’s evolving industrial landscape.
IHC’s Deal Space at the event served as a catalyst for execution, with partnerships announced across sectors including technology, infrastructure, financial services, logistics, energy, and food security.
Announcements such as Alpha Dhabi and TA’ZIZ signing a strategic collaboration for approximately Dh36.7 billion in industrial chemicals investments, NMDC Infra signing an Dh1.046 billion EPC agreement with Lantania for the Fujairah desalination plant, NMDC Energy’s partnership with Borouge to support the execution of critical energy and infrastructure developments with steel pipe coating solutions, NRTC’s strategic collaboration with Emirates Fast Food Company to strengthen sustainable sourcing and the supply of high-quality fresh produce across the UAE food ecosystem, and 2PointZero Group’s agreement with ISEM and KEZAD Group to develop a new packaging manufacturing facility in Abu Dhabi, among several others, reflected IHC’s continued focus on building scalable platforms, strengthening cross-sector connectivity, and enabling long-term industrial capability.
Alongside this, the Exchange Hub provided a platform for forward-looking dialogue, hosting discussions on topics ranging from sovereign AI factories and resilient supply chains to the future design of free zones and strengthening UAE–Mexico economic partnerships.
Each day of the IHC Pavilion was guided by a distinct strategic focus aligned with the national vision.
The programme began with the theme of ‘Confidence Through Continuity’, highlighting the importance of resilient systems and uninterrupted capital and trade flows. Day 2’s theme, ‘UAE First’, emphasised localisation and the expansion of domestic industrial capability.
The focus then shifted on Day 3 to ‘Turning Capital into Capability’, demonstrating how investment is translated into platforms, infrastructure, and workforce development.
The final day’s theme, ‘Engineering the Future’, showcased how advanced technologies and global partnerships are enabling the UAE’s next generation of growth systems.
Syed Basar Shueb, CEO of IHC, said: "MIITE 2026 represents an important milestone in the UAE’s industrial transformation journey, where resilience, capability, and strategic collaboration are becoming increasingly critical to long-term growth.
"At IHC, our role is to connect capital with operational capability, ensuring that investment translates into resilient supply chains, stronger national industries, and scalable future-ready platforms.
Through the participation of more than 40 group companies under the IHC Pavilion this year, we demonstrated over the past four days how our Dynamic Value Networks model enables us to move beyond standalone investments and instead orchestrate integrated ecosystems across technology, infrastructure, financial services, and consumer sectors.”
As a long-standing strategic partner to the UAE’s In-Country Value (ICV) programme, IHC continued to demonstrate its commitment to localisation, industrial capability, and long-term economic resilience through the performance of its group companies. NMDC Energy achieved a leading ICV score of 85.16%, reflecting its contribution to strengthening industrial capacity and energy infrastructure.
Aldar recorded an ICV score of 71.08%, reinforcing its role in supporting sustainable urban development, while Trojan Construction Group achieved an ICV score of 62%, highlighting its continued contribution to local manufacturing, engineering capability, and construction sector growth across the UAE.
Key highlights and announcements:
- Alpha Dhabi Holding and TA’ZIZ signed a strategic collaboration agreement for approximately $10 billion in industrial chemicals investments, supporting the UAE’s industrial strategy and strengthening domestic manufacturing and chemicals value chains.
