The manufacturing industry continues to face rising demands for clean energy and consumer scrutiny of its environmental impact. This is why ADIPEC, the world’s largest and most inclusive energy forum, the Smart Manufacturing Strategic and Technical Conferences and Exhibition Zone, provides an essential platform for the sector to explore new collaborations and identify solutions in this space.

The ADIPEC 2022 Smart Manufacturing Conferences have convened manufacturers from across the energy industry to consider how advanced technologies, including AI, IoT, and advanced robotics, as well as supply chain localization, foreign direct investment, and talent, are unlocking greater value, boosting productivity and transforming value chains. Case studies and real-time demonstrations from industry experts were showcased at the technical conference, giving first-hand insight into the latest technologies.

“Bringing together international and local leaders from the manufacturing and energy industries, the ADIPEC Smart Manufacturing Zone was the ideal platform to showcase our Make it in the Emirates campaign to international stakeholders. Supported by some of the largest industrial companies and enablers, Make it in the Emirates invites investors and innovators to benefit from the UAE’s unique value proposition, including robust support for entrepreneurs and SMEs looking to develop, manufacture and export their products from the UAE,” said HE Omar Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology.

Establishing a thriving and innovative global manufacturing hub is a key part of the UAE’s vision to diversify and expand the nation’s economy towards a net zero future, which has been a focal point for the ADIPEC 2022 Smart Manufacturing Zone.

Speaking at the Smart Manufacturing Strategic Conference, during a session titled ‘Perspectives on Investment: the key drivers to attracting manufacturing investment to the UAE’, His Excellency, Saud Abu Alshawareb, Executive Vice President, Dubai Industrial City (DIC), said: “We are agile with a full supply chain in DIC – we are an enabler since 2014, with six sectors. We have the largest electronic recycling facility in the world, generating raw materials for the world. Because of this circular economy, our aim is to decarbonize the industrial sector as part of Net Zero 2050.

“Today, ‘Made in UAE’ products can reach high-end markets because we have decarbonized products, produced with low-carbon emissions, which open up our products to markets in Europe and the US.”

Meanwhile, in the ADIPEC strategic conference program, industry leaders also explored the role of carbon capture and utilization (CCU) and storage technologies as a major contributor to transition strategies, and how recent investments are driving technological advancements in this space.

During the Strategic session ‘Accelerating progress in carbon capture, utilisation and storage: scaling up the opportunity,’ Laure Mandrou, Senior Vice President, Carbon-Free Solutions, Technip Energies, said: “Acceleration is really necessary to ramp up CCU, whether this is in terms of policy, technology or finance.

“We need more projects going through de-risking and into execution to start decarbonizing further. We need to target more projects to FID (Final Investment Decision) with the solutions we have today. Forums like ADIPEC help bring an alignment for the industry to move this forward,” she said.

With record attendance from over 160 countries and featuring more than 28 dedicated country pavilions this year, ADIPEC is the most inclusive and international energy platform, bringing together global leaders from across markets to tackle critical issues around the security, affordability, and sustainability of energy, and setting out the pathway to a progressive and  pragmatic energy transition