Dubai Industrial City, the UAE’s leading manufacturing and logistics destination and a member of TECOM Investments, has signed a project development agreement with Europe’s third largest paint manufacturer, Deutsche Amphibolin-Werke (DAW), to become the location for their Middle Eastern regional office of Caparol Paints LLC.

Caparol Paints, which began its regional operations from Al Quoz Industrial Area in 1999, will establish a range of operational facilities at Dubai Industrial City that include a paint manufacturing plant, warehouse, R&D laboratories, a Colour Design Studio, a customer service center, as well as administrative and training facilities. The new facility will support Caparol’s growing manufacturing and operational needs. In a broader perspective, the company’s capacity to manufacture products locally will also reduce the UAE’s reliance on imports from Germany.

“To optimally manufacture high quality paint products requires production facilities that are state-of-the-art,” said Gary Seabrook, general manager, Caparol Paints. “Our search for a location to build a factory that can manufacture our current range of products and potentially allow us to manufacture and introduce new technologies led us to Dubai Industrial City.

“The destination’s vantage location and ready availability of infrastructure positioned it as our location of choice,” Seabrook said. “From an administration perspective, it was simpler and easier to establish a new plant at Dubai Industrial City. We are confident our new operations will allow us to consolidate our presence in the UAE and look beyond towards the rest of the GCC region, as well as North Africa and Indian Ocean islands.

“Caparol Paints is a global leader in manufacturing paint,” said Abdulla Belhoul, managing director, Dubai Industrial City. “Its associated technology and strategic move to Dubai Industrial City within its industry-specific zone model will not only support their operational growth in the MENASA markets but further consolidate our position as an industrial hub.

“Such increase in activity at Dubai Industrial City is in line with the upward nationwide trend, which showed a growth of around 12.8 percent in industrial investment in 2011, as per recently published data by the UAE Ministry of Economy,” said Belhoul. “It also reflects DI’s commitment to supporting the country’s drive to increase the manufacturing sector’s share in the GDP, from the current 16 percent to 25 percent in the coming years.”

Caparol Paints has a sophisticated R&D laboratory that studies and develops paint technology to incorporate new international trends in raw materials, and design new textures, colors and finishes as demanded by local consumers and international architectural designs. The paint being developed must also have the property to meet the region’s harsh weather conditions. Caparol’s clientele currently includes major commercial and residential projects such as the Jumeriah Golf Estates, Dubai, the Ritz Carlton DIFC, Sofitel Jumeriah Beach Residence, Dubai, and the Etihad Plaza Al Raha Beach, Abu Dhabi.

Dubai Industrial City, the second largest non-real estate project in Dubai, is located on Emirates Road near the new Al Maktoum International Airport, Dubai Industrial City offers a strategic advantage with its proximity to major highways and the Jebel Ali Port.