Propelled by its remarkable growth on all fronts, Dubai Industrial City (DI) – a member of Tatweer and the third largest non-real estate project in Dubai – is gearing up for its participation at the Big 5 show.

Being developed on 560 million sq ft of prime land, the development aims to facilitate the UAE’s industrial growth and help to transform the country as well as the emirate into an industrial and manufacturing hub for small and medium enterprises
“Launched in 2004, DI is steadily forging its way forward on all its different fronts, with the construction of the first phase infrastructure, which is due for completion by next year, progressing on schedule,” says Rashed Al Ansari, vice president of Dubai Industrial City. “The first phase infrastructure, which is being carried out at an investment of Dh777 million ($211.7 million), covers all the roads and other facilities in DI such as sewage treatment facilities and energy connections,” he adds.
Conceived as a self-contained city-within-a-city and intended to be one of the active drivers to catalyse foreign direct investment (FDI) and attract new technologies, DI has been designed as a custom-built one-stop shop for industries on a work-live-and-play model and will offer state-of-the-art infrastructure for industries and related sectors such as logistics, assembly and warehousing, vocational industrial training, and labour accommodation.
DI’s location is strategic with the city being adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport – which is designed to be the largest airport in the world – and close to Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone, and nearby major road networks that connect various emirates – all put together providing easy access to global transportation points via road, air and sea.
Once completed by 2015, the city is expected to be home to around 500,000 people and contribute around $10 billion to the GDP of Dubai.
DI features six industrial zones for machinery and mechanical equipment, transport equipment and parts, base metal, chemicals, food and beverage and mineral products.
The city is divided into two distinct sectors – the industrial zone that houses the six industrial clusters as well as warehouses; and six labour villages that are all scheduled to be operational in 2009 and are expected to accommodate 75,000 labourers and supervisors. 
DI has invested more than Dh2 billion in the construction of the six labour villages, with a total of 230 centrally air-conditioned residential buildings being built and due to be operational next year.
A seventh labour village in DI is currently operational and houses 12,500 people in it across 14 residential blocs that are equipped with modern facilities such as dedicated laundry rooms, a gated compound that offers play areas for football, volleyball and cricket, car and bus parks, cafeterias, landscaped gardens, a mosque and praying area, as well as a host of other community services.
The commercial zone in DI will include an array of office towers, residential buildings, hotels, and mixed-use developments – from malls to restaurants, entertainment areas, schools and hospitals, amongst other facilities and services.
Besides the existing properties, DI has decided to add additional four office buildings at an investment of Dh200 million, to meet the increased demand for office space and emulate the success achieved when the first four office buildings were launched last year.
Scheduled for completion in early 2010, the four buildings will include a total of 416 parking bays, ranging between underground and open-air parking bays. To service the four buildings, a foodcourt, a well-equipped business centre and exhibition areas will be set up. A fully-functional banking services centre and a government service centre are already operational at DI and provide convenience to the industrial entities based at the township.
Warehouses form a major component of DI and are spread over a total area of 24 million sq ft to take care of the storage, cargo and other logistical needs of companies in the zone.
DI is currently constructing a dedicated logistics park as well as modern warehouses. So far, 1.5 million sq ft of warehouses that meet the latest safety standards have been built and have been leased to clients across Dubai and the UAE. The warehouses come in sizes of 5,000 and 10,000 sq ft and multiples and incorporate the latest in fire safety standards from precast concrete walls that have a four-hour fireproof rating to water sprinklers, fire hoses, fireproof doors as well as exit doors in each warehouse. An additional 1.5 million sq ft of warehouses are currently being built and are due to be completed by the end of this year.
DI has entered into partnership with Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN) the largest global logistics provider in the world, to offer solutions in warehousing distribution, express delivery and consultancy services to companies based in the city through its partners.
Turning to quality standards, Al Ansari says: “DI is implementing international quality standards, as for the first time in Dubai an industrial activity is governed by international safety, quality and environment standards set in partnership with leading global agencies.  DI has already introduced the Dubai Quality Mark (DQM) for industrial investors across the city and is actively promoting it across the region. DQM will support investors across DI as it will help them ensure that their products meet international standards.” 
The Dubai Centre for Industrial Standards, Maqayees, a separate body that was set up in 2007, is in charge of implementing and overseeing all quality, health, safety and environmental (QHSE) standards across DI.
“Maqayees screens applications of all investors to ensure that the stipulated standards of QHSE requirements are maintained across the city. Recently, the Kanoo Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the authority to review all the operational processes of the group in the UAE and Oman,” says Al Ansari.
DI has also launched the Dubai Industrial Academy (DIA), a dedicated vocational training centre that provides more than 90 training courses for the industry based on theoretical classroom teaching, coupled with practical workshop training.
The courses are intended to cover the needs of the six industrial zones of the city as well as cover eight industrial sectors across the UAE. All courses at DIA are approved by the Dubai-based Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) as well as the UK-based City and Guilds. 
As part of its environmental management efforts, DI has recently completed a wildlife conservation and translocation programme, with more than 900 wildlife species ranging from monitor lizards to wild rabbits, gazelles and other reptiles that inhabited  DI land translocated to the Al Marmoom Animal Conservation farm ahead of the construction and development in the city. The entire operation took more than six months to complete.