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

1 year 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

Binance Receives Virtual Assets License To Operate In Dubai

As its user base nears 200 million, CEO Richard Teng believes crypto adoption will soar over the next half of the decade.

Published

3 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Nour Nasir

binance receives virtual assets license to operate in dubai

Global crypto exchange Binance has been granted a full operational license in Dubai, in a move that’s expected to accelerate digital asset adoption and strengthen the UAE’s regulatory landscape.

The virtual asset service provider license (VASP) was granted by the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and will allow Binance to extend its current range of services to retail investors, the company announced yesterday.

The move by Dubai authorities will be critical to Binance’s strategy of growing its user base globally. The crypto exchange expects to pass the 200 million user mark “quite shortly”, according to Richard Teng, the company’s CEO.

Once that milestone is achieved, Binance will have around twice as many users as rival platform Coinbase. Meanwhile, Crypto.com, another popular exchange with 80 million users, received a Dubai VASP license last week.

“We’re seeing much greater institutional adoption and institutional money coming into this space [along with] much greater regulatory clarity and a lot more jurisdictions approving [digital asset] products that bring in new investor classes,” Binance’s Richard Tang explained, adding: “As of now, we stand at about 5% crypto adoption globally, but that will become much faster moving forward”.

Also Read: Microsoft Invests $1.5 Billion In Abu Dhabi AI Tech Firm G42

Dubai and the UAE are extremely supportive of technologies like digital assets, and have already launched initiatives to boost adoption. The UAE has ambitious plans to become a world leader in the crypto economy of the future, with Dubai in particular being noteworthy for passing a new law to regulate virtual assets to support investors and exchanges.

“Global crypto regulation is currently showing diverging signs. Some developed countries have long suffered from crypto-related frauds and illegal exchanges. On the other hand, emerging nations like the UAE and Singapore have enacted crypto laws at faced pace,” said Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer of Dubai-based Century Financial.

As the UAE gears up to become one of the fastest-growing crypto capitals worldwide, investors and talent are flocking to places like Dubai. During 2023, the Emirates as a whole realized $204 million in capital gains from cryptocurrency investments, according to blockchain data analysts Chainalysis.