Etihad Partners Jiangsu Investment Firm to Aid Development of Abu Dhabi Aviation Park
Tang Shihua
DATE:  Jul 23 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Etihad Partners Jiangsu Investment Firm to Aid Development of Abu Dhabi Aviation Park Etihad Partners Jiangsu Investment Firm to Aid Development of Abu Dhabi Aviation Park

(Yicai Global) July 23 — Etihad Airways has partnered a state-owned investment arm in eastern China to facilitate the development of an aviation industry park being built by China and the United Arab Emirates. 

The UAE's national airline and Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Cooperation and Investment Co. penned the deal in Abu Dhabi on July 20 while Chinese President Xi Jinping was in the emirate's capital, China News Service reported. The agreement will see Etihad offer preferential passenger and freight transport rates at Abu Dhabi's Khalifa Port while JOCIC and companies based in the business park will prioritize Etihad over other airlines.

JOCIC signed a memorandum of understanding with the financial free-trade zone in Abu Dhabi in May, with the pair agreeing to develop the industry park, which is based in Khalifa Port, into a window for investment and trade cooperation between China, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. It penned a deal in July 2017 with Abu Dhabi Ports to build the park, and the area now has 16 Chinese companies who have made billion dollar investments there, covering new energy, machine manufacturing, logistics, chemicals and catering.

"The China-UAE Industrial Park is a major project under the Belt and Road Initiative," said Luo Hua, JOCIC chairman. "It represents an important consensus reached by the leaderships of China and the UAE to strengthen international industrial capacity cooperation."

The Belt and Road is Xi's 30- to 40-year grand plan for an infrastructure and trade route spanning most of the world's continents. His recent state visit was the first by China's top official in 29 years as the country looks to cement ties and expand the route in the Gulf.

Editor: James Boynton

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