Al Khat Packaging Co. – the only approved provider of packaging materials for McDonalds in the Middle East – is further expanding its manufacturing capacity in the region by establishing a new printing and packaging company in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD). Officials from KIZAD recently announced the signing of a 50 year land-lease agreement with Gulf Printing and Packaging Co., a new subsidiary of Al Khat Packaging Co., one of the largest producers of printing and packaging materials in the State of Kuwait.
The AED 80-million-facility is expected to commence operations in 2016. It will be Al Khat’s first production plant outside of Kuwait. Located in Kizad’s “Mixed Use” cluster, the plant will cover a 237,516 square foot plot of land and produce folding paper packaging and printing products, especially for the UAE, Saudi Arabian and South African markets.
At the recently held signing ceremony, Engineer Khaled Salmeen, CEO, Kizad, welcomed a delegation of senior members from Al Khat Packaging Co. The delegates included Mohamed Abou Khalid, General Manager, Samer Hassan, Deputy General Manager, and Emad Farouk Mohamed, Financial and Administration Manager.
“Gulf Printing and Packaging will considerably add to Kizad’s industrial landscape which offers advanced infrastructure and facilities designed in line with international best practices”, said Engineer Salmeen and continued:
“We are delighted to welcome our Kuwaiti business partners who will significantly benefit from Kizad’s strategic location with market access to 4.5 billion people worldwide, its multimodal transportation network, which includes our flagship deep water Khalifa Port, as well as its business friendly environment and competitive operating costs.”
Salmeen further explained: “Al Khat Packaging’s choice of settling in Kizad is another indicator that our efforts to establish the industrial zone regionally and globally have come to fruition. The growing number of foreign investors shows that we are moving in the right direction in diversifying the economy and developing Kizad into one of the world’s largest industrial zones.”
Abou Khalid added: “The decision to settle in Kizad is the answer to our growing international customer base and, consequently, to the increasing demand in our products. Our plant in Kizad offers us the opportunity to be closer to our international clients and to serve them more efficiently, especially through Khalifa Port.”
“We follow the BRC Global Standards and have been recognized by the BRC authorities for our quality and food safety for the fourth consecutive year. Kizad’s excellent infrastructure and business environment will help us to maintain our high production standards and further develop our capacities on a global scale,” Abou Khalid concluded.
