Saturday, Nov 14, 2009
Gulf News
London The emirate of Ras Al Khaimah is to secure 400 megawatts (MW) of power from the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (Fewa), a top government official said.
"We are in close negotiations with Fewa on power supply that is vital to the ongoing development activities in the emirate," Dr Khater Massaad, adviser to the RAK Crown Prince and chief executive of the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (Rakia) told Gulf News.
"We, from Rakia have already developed two power plants, producing 130MW [of] power. We need more power and Fewa has agreed [to] the plan."
"We were right to focus on industrial development. That's why, the current economic downturn impacted us less," Dr Massaad said.
"Despite the current situation, we have attracted 380 industries in four years that have generated 70,000 employees. None of these industries laid off people, nor reduced production.
"So, we needed to provide housing accommodation for 70,000 people, that includes CEOs, senior management, mid- and junior management and workers — that pushed rents and housing prices up."
He said the last thing the emirate wanted was another real estate price spiral and an increase in rents. "Thank God, it's stablising now and the outlook remains positive," he said. "That's why we have not cancelled a single project. Ras Al Khaimah will go ahead with all the projects as we will need those housing units due to demand driven by industrial development," he said, adding that the emirate had, over a period of six years, created a number of investment vehicles and investment facilities that had helped its economy come into its own, beginning with the development of a number of free zones, Rakia, Investment and Development Authority (IDO) and EdRAK to attract investment in education.
Ras Al Khaimah's industrial history started with the creation of RAK Ceramics — which has become a global entity.
Rakia has registered about 450 industries till date with investments running into billions of dollars.
Ras Al Khaimah also witnessed the opening of four new hotels and resorts recently while a few more are going to be opened in the next few months.
By Saifur RahmanBusiness Editor
Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.
