ACO Systems, Dubai, has celebrated the opening of its new factory in the United Arab Emirates.
The facility, which forms part of Germany’s family-run ACO Group, will supply and support drainage systems in the GCC region and beyond.
The 3,000m2 factory is situated in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) – home to over 6,400 companies. Those speaking at the event explained how the new manufacturing base will allow ACO to improve service across the Middle East and North Africa.
Chairman and CEO of ACO Group Hans-Julius Ahlmann said: “The development of Dubai has fascinated us from the very beginning. The ongoing demand for our products in the Arabic world requires a larger production facility.”
It was Dubai’s favorable commercial environment that appealed to Ahlmann and his colleagues. As the ACO owner explained, the city’s resilience in the face of the global economic downturn was a major contributing factor in the decision to create the Jafza factory.
“2008 was a sort of acid test,” Ahlmann told the audience. “The stability has remained: the political stability and the economic stability. If one is driving around Dubai these days, one is stuck in traffic, which means there’s life in it. There always has been life here, and we are very confident that this is going to continue to be the case.”
Other attendees included managing director of ACO Systems Karsten Due, ACO North Western Europe’s Richard Hill MBE, and consul general of the Federal Republic of Germany in Dubai Klaus Ranner. Several Jafza officials were also present at the opening.
In-depth coverage of the event, including the views of Ahlmann, Ranner and Hill, will be published in the October issue of PMV Middle East.