Abu Dhabi boosts local businesses with Dh15b in tenders

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) on Wednesday said it was opening 1,244 government tenders for businesses in the private sector as it looks to inject growth into the economy.

The total worth of the contracts according to ADDED is Dh15 billion and comes as part of their ‘Abu Dhabi Local Content’ programme, which aims to use local businesses for their projects and investments.

ADDED said the move follows their agreement with Adnoc on integrating and standarising Adnoc’s in country value (ICV) programme across Abu Dhabi Government’s procurement process as part of Ghadan 21. To date, Adnoc’s ICV programme has created over 1,500 jobs with Dh44 billion contributed to the UAE’s economy, highlighting the economic impact of such ICV programmes.

“The Abu Dhabi Local Content programme encourages companies to increase their contribution to the development of the emirate’s local economy as it improves their access to government tenders… This initiative reflects the drive to consolidate efforts among government and semi-government entities to support the growth of the private sector, and direct government spending towards the development of local content,” Mohammad Ali Al Shorafa Al Hammadi, ADDED chairman, had said when the programme was first announced.

ADDED also this week said it was making more smart digital services available for businesses, calling on the private sector to make full use of its e-commerce license initiative to be able to benefit from these added digital services.

And in partnership with the Department of Government Support, which is represented by the Abu Dhabi Digital Authority, ADDED this week also made its commercial licenses available through the online TAMM portal, allowing businesses to access all required services and to complete their transactions digitally.

According to the Telecommunications Regulation Authority (TRA), the number of stores providing e-services has increased by 150 per cent in the last two weeks, with the TRA saying they expect more businesses to turn to e-commerce to meet the rising online demand.