Dubai Exports, part of the Department of Economic Development and the export promotion agency of the Emirate of Dubai supported the country’s food and beverage sector in the week leading to and during Gulfood. Dubai Exports sought to link the country’s food and beverage manufacturers as well as re-exporters with key buyers that came to Gulfood. As a part of its drive to increase exports from the emirate Dubai Exports facilitated over 450 B2B meetings between UAE manufactures and re-exporters with international buyers. The B2B meetings took place leading to and on the sidelines of the Gulfood exhibition.

Dubai Exports through its Overseas Trade Office in India was able to attract 45 major buyers who had the opportunity to conduct individual B2B meetings with UAE manufacturers and re-exporters during the ‘Indian Food Forum’ held a day before the formal opening of Gulfood. The Indian Food Furum also allowed Dubai Exports to showcase the strength of the over 600 companies in the country that are active in food and beverage manufacturing as well as re-exporting.

During the Gulfood exhibition which is the largest such event outside Europe Dubai Exports hosted international buyers from India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Hong Kong and Brazil. Dubai Exports also facilitated official delegations from various countries that were looking to meet with UAE food and beverage companies.

“Gulfood is an ideal platform for sharing information and benefiting from the expertise of numerous companies in the food and beverages industry,” said Mohammed Al Kamali, Deputy CEO, Dubai Exports. “Gulfood 2019 enabled us to further support our food and beverage sector through making them aware of global requirements and standards. At the same time we were able to connect the companies with major international buyers”

Al Kamali added that, “we were pleased to work with our partners to provide food and beverage manufacturers and re-exporters in the country with a comprehensive and holistic approach to entering new international markets”.  Dubai Exports has been pioneering and developing innovative solutions to assist the nation’s business community. At Gulfood it was able to bring together Dubai Science Park, Emirates International Accreditation Centre and the Dubai Airport Free Zone as well as many other partners to develop solutions to make exporting easier and more seamless.

Food and beverages are an important part of Dubai’s manufacturing sector as a result of which Dubai Exports has organised various local and international trade events during the past year, leading to increased exports in the sector. The most recent data shows that Dubai’s total foreign trade in food and beverages during the first nine months of 2018 was AED 63 billion of India accounted for the largest share with AED 5.1 billion.

Sugar and confectionary are among the most important food items produced locally in the UAE, in addition to dairy, eggs, natural honey, animal fat and vegetable oils, as well as grain and flour products.

“We plan to continue with our participation in a series of local and international events, and organize specialized trade missions and exhibition to continuously support the food and beverages sector so that they can reach their true potential in global markets.” Al Kamali said.