Skip to main content
News

Tawazun Economic Council Highlights Strategic Successes at IDEX 2017

By February 23, 2017June 26th, 2021No Comments

Since its inception in 1992, the Tawazun Economic Council has been working to fulfill the vision of the UAE, in line with the UAE’s government directives and under the guidance and support of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

The Tawazun Economic Program, which is overseen by the Tawazun Economic Council, aims to achieve comprehensive and sustainable economic and social development that entails more focused efforts towards a diversified and knowledge-driven economy. This includes establishing and promoting industrial partnerships, capacity building, technology and knowledge transfer and the creation of jobs for UAE Nationals in specialized fields.

At IDEX 2017, the Tawazun Economic Council highlighted some of its success stories and strategic international partnerships to date. Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi government-owned investment company and Solvay, the Belgium chemical and advanced materials company have established a Joint Venture that will deliver advanced composite materials for the empennage and floor beams of Boeing’s new 777X program. This is a strategic collaboration in the Aerospace sector, specific to carbon fiber pre-impregnated (prepreg) composite material and will become the first manufacturer in the UAE of this material.

The as-yet-unnamed joint venture between Mubadala and Solvay has attracted clients such as Boeing, who is in fact the JV’s first client, announcing late last year that they will begin the manufacture of 777X components with composite material made in the UAE.

First introduced in the 1970s, prepreg composites – a combination of high-strength carbon fiber and toughened epoxy resin – reduce weight and therefore improve fuel efficiency in aircrafts. This technology will meet several important goals, from further advancing the aerospace industry development in the UAE to expanding the choice of high-quality materials available for manufacturing. It will also develop the UAE’s capabilities in advanced composite material production in order to expand the supply chain and create a materials ecosystem.

In other programs, Tawazun Economic Council facilitated the signing of a joint venture between Atlas Telecommunication, a UAE-based firm, and Harris Corporation RF Communications Division, to establish an Abu Dhabi-based maintenance facility called Rabban.

The primary function of Rabban is to provide the UAE, as well as regional Armed Forces, with training, installing, repairing and commissioning of radios. The facility will also provide similar services for identified non-Harris communication products.

Rabban will ensure that multiple maintenance facilities within the UAE will provide corrective maintenance of commercial and tactical radios, depot support within the UAE, component equipment spares, transfer of technology / intellectual property to build sustainability and logistic support of communications equipment. This JV also benefits the private sector in that it will provide training to them and increase Emiratization. The Rabban facilities will also provide a quick turnaround time of repair for national security items and preventative maintenance of radios and equipment which will lead to a reduction of Armed Force spending in the medium to long term.

The third project under the Tawazun Economic Program is Exechon. Lockheed Martin, Tecgrant AB (formerly Exechon AB), a Sweden-based technology company and Abu Dhabi-based Injaz National have formed a new joint-venture in the UAE focused on advanced machining technology. The joint venture, Exechon Enterprises L.L.C., will establish an engineering and manufacturing center of excellence for Parallel Kinematics Machining (PKM) in the aerospace, defense and automotive sectors, as well as other industrial areas.

Exechon Enterprises L.L.C. will also create an Application and Technology Development Center in collaboration with local industry and academia. The PKM technology is positioned to meet the increasing demand for flexible manufacturing of components made with advanced materials. Exechon Enterprises L.L.C. will introduce the new portable Xmini lightweight PKM system with the capability to automate a number of currently manual manufacturing processes.

The Exechon Enterprises L.L.C. state of the art manufacturing facility for the Xmini will include technology transfer to the UAE positioning the UAE to indeed be the nurturer of innovation and expand in the areas of industrial automation and robotics in the region,

Commenting on TEC projects highlighted at IDEX 2017, HE Saif Mohamed Al Hajeri, Chief Executive Officer, Tawazun Economic Council, said; “Tawazun Economic Council takes great pride in supporting the UAE’s strategy and vision towards our Armed Forces. All joint ventures that the Council strives to put into place represent necessary steps in our defense mandate to continuously grow and foster partnerships on both local and international levels. We are keen to continue maintaining our existing relationships and establish new ones to create initiatives that have mutual benefit to all entities involved and is a platform for the exchange of valuable knowledge.”
In 2010, Tawazun Economic Council shifted its focus to defense and aerospace, since then 35 projects were launched under the Tawazun Economic Program.