The United Arab Emirates is turning to the private sector to give its space sector a boost while it looks for new investment avenues in space economy and space tourism services.

Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, recently met with Brent Sherwood, Senior Vice President of Blue Origin, the aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight service company, and representatives of AzurX, a Dubai-based technology and strategic sectors investment company, Strategic Advisor to Blue Origin in the Middle East.

“In line with the goals of the UAE Centennial 2071, the national economic vision for the coming era focuses on enhancing the role of enablers in new economy sectors, and bolstering space as one of their drivers. The Ministry is working with its partners to establish an open economic ecosystem that attracts investments to target sectors and stimulate innovative companies to support sustainable development and create an advanced investment environment,” Bin Touq said.
Avenues for collaboration will focus on enhancing partnerships with the private sector by supporting the applications of Industry 4.0 and space innovation in a bid to boost the enablers of the UAE’s future economic development.

“Today, the UAE is home to several major space companies, offering excellent opportunities to start-ups in capitalising on the potential of operating outside the Earth’s orbit. We will move forward with our efforts to attract the companies operating in this field to become partners in driving growth and advancement of UAE’s space economy,” he said.

The space sector’s added value in the UAE has reached approximately AED3 billion, and the country’s investments in this sector have amounted to AED22bn to date. The sector provides more than 3,200 jobs, and over 57 space companies and entities are currently operating in the UAE, including international and start-ups, and five space science research centres. Throughout the recent years, the UAE’s total foreign trade of aerospace vehicles and their parts has reached AED190bn.
The UAE and Blue Origin agreed on developing a cooperation plan through which Blue Origin contributes to supporting and accelerating the strategies and plans of the Ministry of Economy in these ambitious future areas. The plan also focuses on developing the space economy environment in the country, defining new paths to create investment opportunities in the field of space and space tourism in the country. It will contribute to the development of a future methodology and strategy to enhance the contribution of this sector as a key pillar within the new economic model in the country and to raise its future competitiveness at the regional and global levels.

The meeting took place as the International Astronautical Congress 2021 kicked off in Dubai this week. It is the first time an Arab country has hosted the congress since its establishment in 1950.