Abu Dhabi will be home to Amazon’s most technologically advanced fulfillment centre in the region scheduled to launch in 2024. Amazon is working to launch the facility in Abu Dhabi to drive innovation in the logistics sector, support entrepreneurship and the growth of the retail ecosystem, and create thousands of new job opportunities.

The new fulfillment centre comes as part of a wider collaboration between Amazon and Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) which will unlock job opportunities over the coming years, as well as provide support to help entrepreneurs, startups and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) thrive in the digital economy.

H.E. Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, said: “Abu Dhabi has established itself as the region’s innovation hub and as a nexus for pioneering technology and impactful solutions. The addition of Amazon’s new fulfillment centre further boosts the emirate’s ecosystem by introducing new capabilities and an enhanced infrastructure that deliver benefits to other businesses.”

Ronaldo Mouchawar, Vice President of Amazon Middle East and North Africa (MENA), said: “This new expansion helps us increase our delivery capabilities and speed, and support a wide range of sellers who offer a rich selection to our customers. We are well-positioned to accelerate their entrepreneurial journey and aspire to help our independent partners grow to their full potential by providing them with logistics, programmes and resources to seamlessly scale their businesses online.”

The new fulfillment centre will contribute to the development of Abu Dhabi’s economy, creating thousands of jobs for UAE talent over 10 years and enabling SMBs selling on Amazon to reach more customers. This includes positions for people with all kind of experience, education, background and skills – from entry-level to expert profiles – all eligible for Amazon’s highly competitive pay offering, benefits from day one, and training programmes for in-demand jobs.

Entrepreneurs, startups and SMBs can leverage Amazon’s logistics capabilities to reach new customers and grow their own businesses. As part of the collaboration with ADIO, Amazon will provide dedicated seller training to Abu Dhabi SMBs per year for 10 years, in addition to running retail-awareness sessions to encourage entrepreneurship.

As part of Amazon’s global vision to be net zero carbon across all its business by 2040, the fulfillment centre will be built in accordance with the company’s carbon reduction strategies, consistent with Estidama methodology and ADIO’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Policy. The building will incorporate climate-friendly design concepts, control systems, data and analytics, to improve energy efficiency and reduce embodied carbon in construction. The building will also have a solar rooftop to generate on-site renewable energy and will be designed to accommodate zero-emission vehicles as Amazon seeks to reduce carbon emissions from transportation.

The project will create thousands of jobs, boosting Abu Dhabi’s logistics sector and retail ecosystem and will be in line with the UAE’s ambition to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the media office added.