As part of the emirate's drive into advanced manufacturing and sustainable mobility, Abu Dhabi has inked agreements with 25 worldwide businesses to join its newly developed cluster for the development of high-tech vehicles over the next three months.
The companies joining the Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industry (Savi) cluster in Masdar City specialise in autonomous taxis, underwater drones, robotic installations and artificial intelligence, Massimo Falcioni, chief competitiveness officer at the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (Adio),The 25 companies signed on by Adio are from Korea, China and the US, he said on the sidelines of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad)'s World Investment Forum in Abu Dhabi, as per thenationalnews.
These are in addition to the six firms revealed earlier this week, bringing the total number of Savi companies to more than 30. According to Mr Falcioni, they represent "several tens of millions of dollars" in investment from a variety of enterprises ranging from start-ups to major, well-established industries.
"To be a smart city you will need a lot more usage of this kind of autonomous transportation, reducing CO2 emissions because these vehicles optimise routes and integrating data between the vehicle and the passenger," he said.
"So this is an important step by Abu Dhabi towards becoming a smart city."
Adio said on October 16 that it has inked agreements to join Savi with commercial helicopter operator Abu Dhabi Aviation and Chinese electric vehicle maker Neta Auto. It also announced a collaboration with Archer Aviation, a California-based aircraft business, to launch all-electric air taxi operations in the UAE in 2026.