News

Noon & ADIO To Build Huge Fulfillment Center In Abu Dhabi

The new facility at Khalifa Economic Zones, Abu Dhabi, will be the largest in the region when it opens in 2024.

Published

4 years ago

November 11, 2022

Nour Nasir

Noon

The COVID-19 pandemic massively accelerated the growth of online shopping in the UAE, with the market expected to be worth $9.2 billion by 2026. As eCommerce sales look set to double in volume, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) and Dubai-based online marketplace Noon are teaming up to build the UAE’s biggest fulfillment center.

The 252,000 square meter mega facility will be sited in Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Economic Zones, and ADIO is offering Noon monetary and non-monetary incentives to open the massive new warehouse.

“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,” says Abdulla Abdul Aziz Al Shamsi, acting director general at ADIO.

According to the latest press announcement, the new fulfillment center will allow rapid product delivery across the UAE marketplace, using the latest robotic and AI-based automation techniques for sorting, transfer, and storage. The high-tech facility will still need plenty of human workers, with more than 6,000 new staff positions expected to be created, including entry-level packing jobs up to managerial executives.

Also Read: Aramex Has Successfully Tested Drone Deliveries In Oman

“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 to provide our people and nation with the world-class tools necessary for success,” says Mohamed Alabbar, Founder of Noon.

With Noon’s expanded operations in Abu Dhabi, the emirate’s eCommerce sector is receiving a significant infrastructure boost. Business owners, startups, and SMEs will all be able to take advantage of the Noon platform, using its extensive distribution networks to reach new clients and provide an enhanced service for existing users.

News

Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict

Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2026

Nour Nasir

Microsoft

Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.

“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.

The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.

Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.

Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.

So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.