Georgia has UAE market on its mind

Chris Stanton

• Last Updated: November 15. 2009 7:18PM UAE / November 15. 2009 3:18PM GMT

The lure of large aircraft orders and deep defence budgets drew a mix of business leaders and politicians to the Dubai Airshow.

Among them was the governor of Georgia in the US, who was looking to attract business for his state’s large aerospace industry.

Georgia, a southern state that hosts a number of key aerospace companies such as Lockheed Martin and Gulfstream, counts the UAE as a key export market and was looking to develop closer links with the region’s firms, said Sonny Perdue, the governor.

“It’s bilateral. We’re looking for companies to come and invest in production facilities in Georgia … as well as establish potential buyers for our Georgia companies,” Mr Perdue said.

“Aviation assets are used more and more here, and the ability to import and use those assets has increased more here relative to other parts of the world.”

Georgia’s exports to the UAE jumped to US$82 million (Dh301.1m) last year, from $4.3m in 2007. The state’s aviation exports totalled $3.2 billion last year.

Although the UAE’s aerospace industry is in its infancy in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Mr Perdue indicated he was looking ahead to the stage when firms from the region set up their own operations overseas to be closer to the US and other markets.

“Most developing countries such as this that want to diversify their economies will be looking for other places to make production facilities as well,” he said. “That will happen. We’re here to make it happen more rapidly.”

The key factor in developing an aerospace industry was education through both universities and technical institutes, Mr Perdue said.

If the UAE wanted to develop an aerospace industry that remained ahead of the curve and did not simply copy others, strong domestic engineering programmes were critical, he said.



cstanton@thenational.ae