Khalifa Port and Kizad (Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi)

A unique opportunity to tour Khalifa Port - the only automated port in a 3,000 mile radius.

While you are at the Summit, we’d like to invite you to visit one of the UAE’s greatest feats of engineering – the construction of Kizad (Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi), Khalifa Port, and the environmental breakwater built at a cost of US$ 240 million to protect the Ras Ghanada reef, the largest one in the UAE.

Reserve your place on a tour here.

Please note: In order to join a tour you will need to be pre-registered to attend the World Ports & Trade Summit. The exhibition is free to attend and conference passes can be purchased from $290. Register here.

Tour timings: (tours will take approximately 4 hours)
Sunday 1st April: 14:30. Pick up and drop off at ADNEC
Tuesday 3rd April: 14:30. Pick up and drop off at ADNEC
Wednesday 4th April: 14:30. Pick up and drop off at ADNEC
Thursday 5th April: 10:00. Pick up and drop off at ADNEC

Kizad will become one of the world’s largest industrial zones. Phase One will be delivered, ready, by Q4, 2012. It will be 50 square kilometres in size. It is a monumental building project. We already have one anchor tenant there – EMAL (Emirates Aluminium), and they run the world’s largest one-site greenfield aluminium smelter.

Kizad will attract a range of industries from petrochemicals to engineered metals, and will feature clusters relating to specific industries. They will be “vertically integrated” to maximise efficiency and lower costs. Kizad will attract tenants through its great transport links, ease of doing business and low utility costs.

Khalifa Port will service Kizad. It, too, is enormous. The port is being built more than 4 kilometres out to sea. It will be able, when completed, to handle 2 million containers a year, with 12 million tons of cargo. It will be among the most modern ports in the region, too. Features include a semi-automated container and general cargo facility handling containers, bulk liquids (oil fuel and vegetable oil), dry bulk (including alumina, cement and grain), roll-on and roll-off cargo, and general cargo.


The ongoing building of Khalifa Port is a major undertaking, and the sheer size of it is staggering. Totally reclaimed from the sea, it is more than 2.5 sq kms in size – the equivalent of 340 football pitches. The onshore and offshore sites add up to 3.4 sq kms. It has been a massive dredging exercise. Overall, the project team dredged nearly 50 million cubic metres, that’s enough to fill nearly 20,000 Olympic swimming pools.