Quest Global Joins UAE's NextGen FDI Initiative to Support Local Engineering Research and Development - Middle East Business News and Information
HE Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi: 'By enhancing our engineering ecosystem and offering bespoke services to manufacturing companies, Quest Global's cutting-edge research centers will support our industrial transformation goals, improve productivity and develop national talent.'
July, 2025 – Abu Dhabi, UAE: The UAE Ministry of Foreign Trade has announced that Quest Global, a Singapore-based engineering research and development services company, will establish a presence in the United Arab Emirates through the NextGen FDI initiative – a pioneering program that seeks to attract high-impact companies from around the world through a suite of market-entry fundamentals such as rapid incorporation and fast-track issuance.
Quest Global will now open a number of client-centric, high-value engineering centers (HVECs) throughout the UAE, which will offer support to businesses in sectors such as energy, defense, and advanced manufacturing. Quest Global's engineering expertise, coupled with AI and digital technologies, will help transform companies by enhancing operations, fostering innovation and optimizing supply-chains.
His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade, welcomed Quest Global's entry into the UAE market, which he says underlines the country's status as a platform for growth: 'The NextGen FDI initiative was created to attract forward-thinking, ambitious enterprises such as Quest Global to the UAE. By enhancing our engineering ecosystem and offering bespoke services to manufacturing companies, their cutting-edge research centers will support our industrial transformation goals, improve productivity and develop national talent. Quest Global's participation in the initiative also helps reinforce the UAE's status as an economic hub that facilitates expansion into regional and global markets.'
Robert Vatter, Executive President Quest Global says that the NextGen FDI initiative opens up important opportunities for the company: 'Quest Global serves as a strategic ER&D partner to large global companies across energy, aerospace and defence, and other industries. By facilitating the establishment of high value engineering centers in the UAE, the NextGen FDI Initiative will enable us to extend this support to companies based in the UAE and the wider GCC – helping them realize their business ambitions, develop their talent and accelerate their contribution to the development a knowledge economy.'
Since its launch in 2022, the NextGen FDI Initiative has enabled a range of pioneering companies establish a footprint in the UAE, helping to develop clusters of excellence in future-focused sectors such as artificial intelligence, robotics, alternative energy and storage, hybrid aviation, and precision fermentation. Together, they are supporting the UAE's transition to a knowledge- and innovation-based economy.
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