Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2662 actions· ✨ 89 recent

On 26 April 2026, the UAE Cabinet, chaired by Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, approved a four-part industrial-resilience package: (i) a National Industrial Resilience Fund with AED 1 billion (~USD 272m) capital managed by Emirates Development Bank over five years covering food industries, manufacturing, primary metals, mechanical/electrical/chemical industries, pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, advanced technology, and construction — designed to localise over 5,000 critical products and link confirmed procurement demand with targeted financing for local manufacturers; (ii) structural overhaul of the National In-Country Value (ICV) Programme, transitioning it from incentive-based to MANDATORY across federal entities and companies in which the government holds 25% or more; (iii) a National Product Retail Presence Policy strengthening visibility of UAE-manufactured goods in retail and digital channels (Phase 1: bottled water, dairy, eggs, poultry, bread, flour, vegetable oils, seasonal vegetables); and (iv) a National Industrial Data Committee chaired by Hasan Jassim Al Nowais (Undersecretary, MoIAT), with AI-driven forecasting and risk management integrated into industrial-resilience monitoring.

The UAE and United States signed a bilateral Framework on Securing Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths on 4 February 2026, on the sidelines of the 2026 US Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington DC. The framework coordinates a joint UAE-US approach across mining, separation, processing, recycling, and downstream activities, leveraging UAE strategic reserves alongside US industrial demand and stockpiling infrastructure. Both parties committed to mobilise public and private investment via financing, guarantees, equity investments, offtake arrangements, insurance, and regulatory facilitation, and to streamline permitting and protect supply chains from non-market practices. Within six months, both parties intend to identify priority projects for financing, and to cooperate on recycling technology, geological mapping, and national security asset-review procedures.

Dubai's Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched AED 12.8 billion (~USD 3.5bn) in strategic expansion projects for the Dubai Silicon Oasis free zone, comprising a AED 11 billion (~USD 3.0bn) "District IO" technology district and a AED 1.8 billion (~USD 0.49bn) Block 14 mixed-use development. District IO targets smart mobility, 3D printing, robotics, X-Tech, AI, quantum computing and Web3 firms via 25 LEED-compliant buildings, R&D labs and data centres, with capacity for 6,500+ companies and a stated goal of AED 103bn GDP contribution and 70,000+ jobs by 2036. Global Trade Alert classifies the intervention as a financial grant plus an in-kind grant to the free zone.

The UAE Ministry of Economy & Tourism issued Directive No. (72) of 2026, implementing a GCC Ministerial Committee decision to impose definitive anti-dumping duties on electric accumulators (including separators), lead-acid, of a kind used for starting piston engines, originating in or exported from China and Malaysia. Chinese producers face duties of 25.8% (three named enterprises/five entities get 25.8%, 50.7%, and 63.7% respectively), a 25.8% rate for non-selected cooperating exporters, and a 74% residual rate for all other Chinese enterprises. Malaysian producers face 43.2% and 68% company-specific rates, with a 77% residual rate for other enterprises. The duties are ad valorem on CIF customs value, took effect 13 January 2026 across the GCC customs union including the UAE, and are valid for a term not exceeding five years.

On 8 January 2026, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) launched the Abu Dhabi Global Water Platform, committing an initial USD 1 billion (AED 3.67 billion) of state development finance over five years (2026-2030), with a stated ambition to mobilize USD 2 billion (AED 7.34 billion) total alongside local and international financing institutions. The platform finances water-security and water-infrastructure projects in developing countries via direct development financing, private-sector investment support, export financing, guarantees, and equity investments, targeting roughly 10 million beneficiaries worldwide; no specific recipient countries or named projects were disclosed at launch. Global Trade Alert classifies the initiative as "certainly harmful" financial assistance in a foreign market and trade finance (state-act 96013), consistent with its treatment of ADFD's prior export-financing vehicles as state-directed outbound subsidy rather than neutral aid.

On 22 November 2025, the Abu Dhabi Exports Office (ADEX, the export-financing arm of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development) and the UAE Foreign Aid Agency launched a USD 1 billion "AI for Development" initiative to finance artificial-intelligence and digital-infrastructure projects across African countries. The announcement was made by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, at the G20 summit. Global Trade Alert classifies the measure as a certainly-harmful "Other export incentive" intervention (state-act 95488), since it channels UAE state export-credit/aid capital toward AI-related exports and services rather than being a neutral development grant.

On 20 November 2025 the White House and US Department of Commerce / Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) authorised Abu Dhabi AI holding company G42 to import advanced computing chips — equivalent to approximately 35,000 Nvidia GB300 Blackwell processors — under the UAE-pioneered Regulated Technology Environment (RTE) compliance framework. The RTE is an Emirati-designed technology governance and audit architecture, developed by G42 and approved under BIS guidelines, with binding UAE-side controls to prevent onward diversion to foreign adversary nations. The authorisation accelerates the Stargate UAE project — a 1 GW AI compute cluster being built by G42 for OpenAI in partnership with Oracle, Cisco, NVIDIA, and SoftBank Group — and represents the first concluded major country-level advanced-compute authorisation following the May 2025 rescission of the Biden-era AI Diffusion Rule.

The UAE Cabinet, chaired by Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at a special meeting during the Dubai Airshow, approved the establishment of a National Investment Fund with initial capital of AED 36.7 billion (~USD 10 billion), open to future review and expansion. The Fund provides financial incentive packages to companies capable of delivering significant economic impact, via direct federal-level financing and cooperation with emirate-level economic, investment and tourism authorities. It targets raising annual FDI inflows from AED 115bn to AED 240bn, and cumulative FDI stock from AED 800bn to AED 2.2 trillion, by 2031.

International Resources Holding (IRH), an Abu Dhabi investment vehicle in the International Holding Company (IHC) orbit, completed on 22 July 2025 the acquisition of a 56% majority stake in TSX-V/JSE-listed Alphamin Resources Corp. through its wholly-owned subsidiary Alpha Mining Ltd. IRH acquired 718,990,967 common shares from Tremont Master Holdings (a subsidiary of US private-equity group Denham Capital) at C$0.70/share, a total consideration of approximately US$367 million; Tremont retained roughly 0.8% of Alphamin's outstanding shares. The definitive agreement was signed 3 June 2025. Alphamin operates the Bisie tin mine complex (Mpama North and Mpama South) in North Kivu, DRC, one of the world's highest-grade tin operations and the DRC's largest tin mine, supplying a meaningful share of global mined tin.

On 19 May 2025, Emirates Development Bank (EDB) launched the Emirates Growth Fund (EGF), an AED 1 billion (~USD 272 million) growth-equity platform targeting UAE-based SMEs with annual revenues of AED 10 million or more operating in four national priority sectors: manufacturing, food security, healthcare, and advanced technology. EGF takes active minority equity stakes, typically deploying AED 10-50 million in primary capital per company, to fill the "missing middle" between early-stage venture funding and traditional private equity. The fund forms part of EDB's broader financing portfolio supporting the UAE's Operation 300bn industrial strategy.

The UAE Ministry of Economy & Tourism issued Directive No. (2) of 2025, implementing a GCC Ministerial Committee decision (dated 13 March 2025) to impose definitive anti-dumping duties on painted and/or coated, flattened or grained aluminium alloy plates, sheets, strips or coils of 0.2mm to 8mm thickness originating in or exported from China. The duties, ranging from 7.1% to 20% of CIF customs value depending on the producer/exporter, took effect 25 April 2025 across all GCC member states' customs territories, including the UAE.

UAE Cabinet Decision No. 142 of 2024, announced 9 December 2024 and formally gazetted 11 February 2025, introduces a Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT) on UAE constituent entities of Multinational Enterprise (MNE) groups with consolidated annual revenues ≥ EUR 750 million in at least two of the four preceding fiscal years. The DMTT ensures a 15% minimum effective tax rate (ETR) on UAE-source profits, functioning as a Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT) under the OECD/G20 Pillar Two GloBE framework, thereby giving the UAE first-priority taxing right before any IIR top-up by a parent-jurisdiction authority. The measure applies to fiscal years beginning on or after 1 January 2025. The UAE deliberately excluded the Income Inclusion Rule (IIR) and Under-Taxed Profits Rule (UTPR) from this primary instrument, deferring those to subsequent Cabinet Decisions; the QDMTT-only architecture mirrors Singapore's MEMTA and Switzerland's MindStV as the first-mover design choice for established low-tax financial hubs.

Cabinet Resolution No. 97 of 2024 is the implementing regulation of UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 43 of 2021 on Commodities Subject to Non-Proliferation. It operationalises the UAE's horizontal dual-use export-control regime, empowering the Executive Office for Control & Non-Proliferation (EOCN) to designate prohibited and restricted goods on the National Control List and to issue export/transit/re-export permits within 20 working days. The Control List covers nuclear materials, chemicals and precursors, electronics, telecommunications, sensors and lasers, navigation systems, avionics, marine and aerospace equipment, propulsion systems, and "national controlled commodities" (armoured vehicles, autonomous equipment). This is the regulatory architecture under which post-G42 advanced AI-chip outbound flows from the UAE are licensed.

On 22 March 2021, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched Operation 300bn at Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi — a 10-year national industrial strategy delivered by the newly created Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT, established July 2020). The strategy targets raising the industrial sector's annual GDP contribution from AED 133bn (~USD 36bn) to AED 300bn (~USD 82bn) by 2031, lifting R&D spend from AED 21bn to AED 57bn (1.3% → 2% of GDP), and supporting more than 13,500 industrial SMEs through an AED 30bn (~USD 8.2bn) Emirates Development Bank (EDB) financing portfolio. Eleven priority sub-sectors are organised into three baskets: Stimulating Growth (food/beverage, pharmaceuticals, electrical equipment), Advanced Manufacturing (petrochemicals, rubber/plastics, machinery), and Industries of the Future (hydrogen, medical technology, space technology).