The first UAE-made passenger car tyres will feature at Expo 2020 Dubai, according to CEO of Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), Samir Chaturvedi.

The car tyres will be manufactured by China-based Tirebot, which recently set up a manufacturing plant at Kizad.

According to Chaturvedi, the tyre manufacturer will have the capacity to produce up to 4 million passenger car radials by 2020. This is set to increase to 10 million by 2022.

“The objective is [for the plant] to be ready by the second quarter of 2020,” the executive said. “It will be a race against time, but we are confident [we can meet that deadline].”

Tirebot is one of more than 200 customers that have signed up with Kizad since 2012.

MEED understands Abu Dhabi Ports has invested more than AED60bn ($17bn) in developing Kizad’s Area A, which is about 50 square kilometres.

Kizad plans to start developing the next phase, Area B, in 2019.

“We will start developing Area B, which is 200 sq km, in 2019,” Chaturvedi said. “We should be able to start leasing off the spaces by 2020.”

China-US trade dispute

Chaturvedi said the ongoing trade dispute between China and the US is a short-term concern, but added he is confident about the long-term prospects of global trade.

“There will be [temporary] tensions, but we need to focus on our vision,” the executive told journalists on the sidelines of the inauguration of the second container terminal at Khalifa Port.

At the same event, UAE Minister of State and Abu Dhabi Ports chairman, Sultan al-Jaber, announced that the land allocated for the China-UAE Capacity Demonstration Park, an industrial zone to be located at Area A of the Khalifa Port Free Trade Zone, will be expanded from 2 to 12 sq km.

The industrial zone caters to firms specialising in energy, aluminium, biomedicine and food production, among others.

In July 2017, five firms from China’'s eastern province of Jiangsu committed to invest an estimated AED1.1bn in the free zone.

New UAE investment law

Chaturvedi also downplayed the potential impact on Kizad of the recently approved UAE investment law that allows 100 per cent foreign ownership in certain sectors, exclusive of a negative list that includes the oil and gas sector.

“All regulations serve to make sure a reasonable boost to investments. [With such regulations in place], we become more interesting to global investors. Trade is like water - it finds its own level wherever it goes,” the executive said, adding that Kizad’s main task is to make sure it has enough capacity to look after its tenants’ needs.

Abu Dhabi has allocated a total of 460 sq km, about two-thirds the size of Singapore, for Kizad.