Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority has signed an agreement with Englewood, Colo.-based CH2M Hill International Ltd. to prepare a master plan for the Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO) project, described as the first and only industrial park designed and built specifically for the semiconductor industry.
The announcement is part of the United Arab Emirates’ ongoing preparation to host the expected influx of foreign high tech companies needed to participate in the reconstruction of Iraq, as well as the booming communications and IT infrastructural growth in the entire Gulf and North African regions.
A board for the DSO project, to consist of five to six members from local semiconductor and microelectronics supply chain industries, will execute a detailed plan for the new project.
The park is scheduled for construction next year, and will be located in Nad Al Shiba on 6.5-million square meters. It is intended to complement -- rather than compete with -- Dubai Internet City, a functioning IT and telecommunications center inside the free trade zone, offering office space equipped with both wired and wireless networks, to companies working with advanced technology. The companies are allowed to retain foreign ownership, 100 percent, as well as form partnerships under very relaxed conditions.
DSO will be completely geared to the global semiconductor industry, providing facilities including incubators, networking and outsourcing support, business link-ups, venture capital, and consulting.
The Dubai Silicon Incubation Center (DSIC) at DSO will provide a facility for Broadband and Wireless Incubation for the development and commercialization of Intellectual Property and will help create regional enterprises at the top end of the technology spectrum. Already signed on is Germany’s high-quality semiconductor foundry Communicant Semiconductor Technologies AG.
The contract for the master plan, which will be finalized this year, was signed by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, DSO chairman, and Robert Sheh, president of CH2M Hill International Ltd.
A business plan, to be created by year’s end by a still unnamed Korean company, will focus on the marketing aspects as well as the financial and operating model of the park.
The master plan, according to Sheh, is already being implemented; well into examining revenue projections, cash flows, metrics of measuring financial performance, market examinations, potential partners and rates of returns.
"We hope ground breaking of the first business venture on Dubai Silicon Oasis will get under way by the end of this year or early next, depending on market conditions," said Mohammed Al Zarouni, Dubai Silicon Oasis CEO.
Also planned are an Institute Of Technology to train and develop local technical talent and expertise, convention and conference centers, banks, healthcare clinics, fitness centers, swimming pools, and food courts. Already in the works is a portal for the worldwide semiconductor industry intended to knit together the industry’s significant players, offering a marketing vehicle for business opportunities.
CH2M Hill International has also worked on three large projects in China, Europe and the Middle East -- one for Motorola Inc., another for Intel Corp. in Ireland.
