Region/Countries: Africa and the Middle East, United Arab Emirates Industry: Aviation / Aerospace, Biosciences / Medical Devices, Manufacturing, Other Date: March 2017

Why this is important to Wisconsin businesses: Wisconsin exporters should take a closer look at these strong and growing sectors.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was a top importer of U.S.-made defense articles in 2015, ranking fifth based on U.S. Census Bureau export data. The UAE remains a strong ally of the U.S. and has a defense cooperation agreement in place. National security and persistent regional conflict continue to drive the UAE defense budget.

  • The UAE is forecast to increase its defense budget over the next few years and is expected to reach $41 billion (152 billion AED) by 2025.
  • Opportunities exist for various sized companies that manufacture these larger platforms as well as smaller companies that manufacture parts, components and military electronics, as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and other related service companies.
  • The UAE has a number of U.S. military programs in place, including the C-17 and C-130, F-16 E/F and multiple weapon systems associated with this fighter, UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopters, the AH-64 APACHE and more.
  • Opportunities for U.S. companies include sales and related training and support services for defense equipment and weapons systems in the air and naval defense, critical infrastructure security, border security and systems integration, training and MRO facilities.
  • In addition to Ministry of Defense procurement programs, the Abu Dhabi Critical National Infrastructure Authority (CNIA) has several tenders open for bid in connection with its mission of securing the country’s vital infrastructure and assets, such as onshore and offshore petroleum facilities.
  • Cybersecurity is also a growing field, as the UAE is home to Advanced Integrated Systems, the fastest growing homeland security company in the world.

The UAE health care sector is expected to reach $20 billion in aggregate value by 2020.

  • Dubai is developing into a top destination for medical tourism.
  • Dubai has dedicated two industrial free trade zones to health care and medical research – Dubai Healthcare City and Dubai Biotechnology and Research Park.
  • The greatest area of opportunity for Wisconsin companies lies in lifestyle diseases and cancer treatment.
  • There is demand for preventative medicine and wellness programs.
  • Due to an increasing population, a thriving tourism sector and major events planned in the future, there is great demand for construction of new hospitals.
  • The UAE Ministry of Health is encouraging the adoption of e-health/telemedicine solutions.