Mubadala Investment Co., Abu Dhabi, is harnessing its global reach and partnerships to help battle the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on people worldwide.
The $232.2 billion sovereign wealth fund rolled out a number of initiatives across its business platform through the #WeAreDedicated campaign, said a statement provided by a spokeswoman. Through the campaign — the "first phase of (Mubadala's) response strategy" to COVID-19, according to its website — executives have coordinated with the fund's portfolio companies and raised awareness about the pandemic to provide support to communities.
The fund, which has presence in more than 50 countries through its portfolio companies, "harnessed the reach of its portfolio in the United Arab Emirates and around the world to support communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic," the statement said.
Initiatives spanned the fund's health-care investments and alternatives allocations in particular.
Mubadala's real estate and infrastructure unit launched a 420 million UAE diram ($114.3 million) rent relief plan in the retail, residential, office leasing and hospitality sectors. The fund's real estate and infrastructure allocation was 11% of total assets as of Dec. 31.
Among the initiatives focusing on the UAE within its health-care portfolio — the value of which was not disclosed — Mubadala-owned Strata Manufacturing donated personal protection equipment such as face shields and medical gloves to government and public health institutions. Mubadala also worked with health-care portfolio companies to roll out COVID-19 testing and the delivery of prescriptions, the statement said.
The fund also embarked on strategic collaborations directly related to the coronavirus pandemic. In May, it announced a collaboration between Strata and technology and manufacturing firm Honeywell International to build N-95 respirators at Strata's base in the city of Al Ain in Abu Dhabi.
"The collaboration aimed to address the need for (personal protection equipment), which has been one of the most significant challenges being faced globally in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," the statement said.
The partnership marked the first N-95 respirator manufacturing line in the Gulf Cooperation Council region. Annual output expectation is more than 30 million masks and will transform the UAE into an exporter of the medical product.
The campaign also stretched across international waters.
The spokeswoman highlighted a number of initiatives, including financing the construction of a temporary field hospital in Brazil, which provides care to more than 2,000 patients and has 100 intensive care units; the distribution of food kits to vulnerable families in Soto Norte, Colombia, through portfolio company Minesa; and a partnership with the Spanish Food Banks Federation through energy firm Compania Espanola de Petroleos, a portfolio company, to donate food items.
Through Mubadala Petroleum, the fund donated PPE to medical staff in Thailand and hand sanitizer kits in Indonesia; while 18,000 masks and more than 500,000 medical gloves were distributed through wholly owned semiconductor company GlobalFoundries. GlobalFoundries itself also donated $1 million to its communities.
