As part of Abu Dhabi Investment Office’s (ADIO) programme to attract investments that drive innovation, Amazon will launch its most technologically advanced fulfilment centre in the region on 175,000 square metres of land in Abu Dhabi.
Expected to launch by 2024, the centre comes as part of a wider collaboration between Amazon and ADIO which will create job opportunities and help entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs thrive in today’s digital economy.
“This is a great day for Amazon in the region. Having a local technologically advanced fulfilment centre will get us closer to our customers and we will be to provide same day, or even faster delivery service, for our customers here,” Ronaldo Mouchawar, vice president of Amazon Middle East and North Africa, told Arabian Business.
The new fulfilment centre will contribute to the development of Abu Dhabi’s economy, enabling SMEs selling on Amazon to reach more customers.
“The fulfilment centre will be an empowering tool for all the small local businesses who want to sell online where Amazon takes care of their delivery, storage, marketing, digital distribution, payment etc. on their behalf hence allowing them to take advantage of the growth that is happening in the e-commerce space in the region,” said Mouchawar.
“Thousands of sellers are on Amazon so for us being an empowerment tool in this ecosystem is important. The centre is one way to do that but, alongside the government of Abu Dhabi, we will be helping the sellers take advantage of the digital tools, skilling them in a way so that they understand the power of e-commerce,” he continued.
As part of the collaboration with ADIO, Amazon will provide dedicated seller training to Abu Dhabi SMEs, in addition to running retail-awareness sessions to encourage entrepreneurship.
“Part of the drive of the centre is to make sure the sellers are successful. The centre is a way for them to not have to worry about product operations, giving them time to focus on growing their business,” explained Mouchawar.
As part of Amazon’s global vision to be net zero carbon across all its business by 2040, the fulfilment centre will be built in accordance with the company’s carbon reduction strategies, consistent with Estidama methodology and ADIO’s ESG policy. The building will incorporate climate-friendly design concepts, a solar rooftop to generate on-site renewable energy and will be designed to accommodate zero-emission vehicles as Amazon seeks to reduce carbon emissions from transportation.
“ADIO has a sustainable strategy as does Amazon globally where we are part of the climate pledge. For us, building any facility that is environmentally friendly and sustainable is super-important.
Over the next five to six years, we will see a great evolution not only in terms of how we ship but also the way we deliver these products to customers using sustainable manners, and we are aligned with Abu Dhabi on this matter,” said Mouchawar.
However, it will still be some time before we see Amazon delivery-drones in UAE’s skies with Mouchawar saying that: “Drones have many applications but in dense areas like towers, we see our traditional delivery tools are critical to our customers and so using them sustainably is more of a focus for us.”
ADIO’s ESG policy sets out its requirements for organisations it partners with to ensure that sustainability and governance outcomes are at the core of projects ADIO supports, and to contribute to the UAE’s ESG goals.
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