The pandemic has accelerated online shopping, with UAE’s e-commerce market expected to be worth $9.2 billion in 2026, up nearly 92% from 2021. To cater to the online sales that continue to soar, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) and Dubai-based online marketplace Noon have teamed up to build the UAE’s biggest fulfillment center.

ADIO and Noon collaborated to create the 252,000 square meters mega facility, to be built at Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD). The facility, scheduled to open in 2024. For the construction of the fulfillment center, ADIO is offering Noon monetary and non-monetary incentives. 

“Noon’s partnerships with ADIO and KEZAD Group are significant in scale and impact, creating thousands of jobs and new opportunities for the private sector to plug into an e-commerce platform and the emirate’s innovation ecosystem. Leveraging Noon’s cutting-edge logistics, innovation, and technology expertise, the mega fulfillment center will reinforce Abu Dhabi’s emerging strength in e-commerce and logistics while boosting adjacent industries like transportation and warehousing,” said Abdulla Abdul Aziz Al Shamsi, acting director general at ADIO.

According to the press statement, the new fulfillment center will enable quick product delivery across the UAE market. New automation techniques for sorting, material transfer, and storage will be available at Noon’s facility. More than 6,000 new hires, ranging from entry-level to executive jobs, will be made by Noon.

With Noon’s expanded operations in Abu Dhabi, the emirate’s ICT cluster’s burgeoning e-commerce sector is further strengthened and will let business owners, startups, and SMEs take advantage of Noon’s platform, advanced technology, and extensive distribution networks to reach new clients, ADIO said in a statement.

“As a local technology company, it is our duty to innovate, invent, and provide the optimal infrastructure for a digital-first future. The new hub in the UAE will accelerate not only Noon’s growth but also ecommerce in our region. We are proud to collaborate with UAE industry leaders such as ADIO and KEZAD in order to provide our people and nation with the world-class tools necessary for success,” said Mohamed Alabbar, Founder of Noon.

Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas comes to the Middle East on 23 November 2022. Click here to know more.