Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi – KEZAD Group, the integrated trade, logistics, and industrial hub of Abu Dhabi and a fully-owned subsidiary of AD Ports Group, and noon.com, one of Middle East’s online shopping websites, broke ground on the UAE’s largest fulfillment centre in Abu Dhabi, which will form part of an anchor investment by noon into the emirate’s fast-growing e-commerce space.
The 252,000 m² fulfillment facility is being designed and developed by KEZAD Group under a Build-to-Suit agreement and is scheduled for delivery in 2024.
With the introduction of new automation technologies for storage, material movement, and sorting, the facility intends to enable rapid delivery of products to millions of noon customers throughout the UAE and bolster the local economy with the creation of several thousand new jobs.
H.E. Mohamed Al Abbar, founder of noon, commented, “More than 5,000 small businesses will use our fulfillment center to store their goods and conduct business. This will allow our youth and small businesses to connect with the growing number of e-commerce customers without having to invest in technology or real estate.”
While noon already has a facility with KEZAD, it has decided to expand its operations to a larger area by utilising KEZAD Group’s Build-to-Suit solution, which will facilitate the design and delivery of noon’s turnkey facility.
The development has been tailor-made to meet the company’s specific operational requirements, helping to reduce costs, boost productivity and offer essential supply chain efficiencies, according to a statement.
Additionally, the facility will be a sustainable building conforming to Estidama 2 Pearl rating which incorporates initiatives to enable water, energy and waste minimisation.
By leveraging the innovative development solution, the noon fulfillment centre will be delivered by KEZAD Group on a fast-track basis to the end users’ exact specifications.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) is also providing noon with financial and non-financial incentives as part of the continued expansion of Abu Dhabi’s fast-growing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) ecosystem.
