Emirates Development Bank (EDB) said in September that its cumulative financing approvals since 2021 exceeded AED30 billion, a milestone for UAE industrial lending that sits alongside different figures in public records for the program's 2025 horizon.
EDB said it had supported more than 1,000 companies across five priority sectors: manufacturing, renewable energy, advanced technology, health care and food security. Manufacturing accounted for the largest portion of its approvals, the bank said.
The bank's estimates put industrial GDP tied to its financing at more than AED14 billion and industrial capital spending at about AED70 billion. EDB said businesses it supported attracted more than AED9 billion in foreign investment. It also estimated that its financing had supported more than 50,000 industrial jobs since 2021.
The UAE government's strategy page describes a AED30 billion portfolio running from 2021 through 2025, with aims to support more than 13,500 small and medium-sized enterprises and create 25,000 jobs. EDB's 2025 annual report lists AED24 billion in financing by that year, alongside an industrial GDP contribution of AED11 billion and more than 41,000 industrial jobs supported. The public documents do not explain how those figures relate to the September milestone.
EDB's September announcement gave no exact total above AED30 billion and did not say how much of the approved financing had been disbursed.
Gulf News reported Nov. 13 that EDB Chief Executive Ahmed Mohamed Al Naqbi said the bank's financing had supported production of more than 1,500 products; the interview did not specify the period covered. Al Naqbi also described EDB's role as financing local production when commercially viable, without aiming to eliminate imports across the board.
