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As Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy inaugurated a state-of-the-art coating line at Emirates Glass in March, a leading processor of architectural flat glass in the Middle East, a subsidiary of Glass LLC and wholly owned by Dubai Investments ("DI") PJSC, thoughts were reinforced about the undoubted potential of the region.
The installation of the AED160 million post-temperable coating line aims to escalate production capacity to over 3.5 million square metres and is part of Glass LLC's strategic expansion plans. Partly operational since 2011, the facility is built over an area of 8,640 square metres at the Dubai Investments Park.
For his part Khalid Bin Kalban, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Investments, said: "Reinstating Emirates Glass' position as a pioneer in adopting technological innovations, the new coating line will enable the company to capitalise more effectively on the burgeoning demand for energy-efficient architectural glass. With the system going online, we will easily meet the stringent technical specifications required for the state-of-the-art iconic projects of today.
"Our broadened portfolio of clientele over the last couple of years has necessitated intensive investment in the glass industry. We also forecast an exciting period with the GCC glass industry slated for unprecedented growth, thanks to the booming construction sector. Subsidiaries of Glass LLC including Emirates Glass, Emirates Float Glass, Saudi American Glass and Lumiglass now offer a holistic range of products and expertise. We are confident that we our well on our way to the forefront of the global glass processing industry." Glass LLC and its subsidiaries marked AED 400 million in sales during 2011 and expect to achieve sales worth AED620 million in 2012 and notch it up to AED1 billion in 2013-2014. Dubai Investments has invested AED1.5 billion in four glass factories and plans to invest an additional AED800 million in 2013-2014. The expansion will include upgrading of the Emirates Float Glass factory in Abu Dhabi. Furthermore, Dubai Investments will also invest in glass companies in Qatar, India and Iraq.
After a tempestuous 18 months, the Middle East is once again showing itself as one of the most exciting places to do business, and with the announcement in this issue of Gulf Glass 2013 moving to the Dubai World Trade Centre in September next year, the exhibition looks set to have sited itself in the right venue at exactly the right time.
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