Trade volume in the first half shows the strength of Dubai's economy despite the 'Covid-19' pandemic
Jafza: 24% growth in food and agricultural products trade
"Jafza" provides flexibility in the procedures for doing business through "Dubai Trade". ■ archive
Muhammad al-Muallem: "Exploring new means to stimulate and develop trade in food and agricultural products."
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The Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), for business and logistics, recorded a total trade growth of 24%, and an increase of 7% in the customer base on an annual basis for the year 2019. This reinforces its position as a preferred destination for businesses in the food and agricultural products sector.
Food and agriculture
A statement issued yesterday stated that "Jafza" includes a sector specialized in the food and agricultural products industry, with a total area of 1.57 million square meters, and more than 550 companies, belonging to 70 countries, operate in it.
Jafza confirmed that this sector employs more than 6000 people, while 38% of these companies return to the Middle East, followed by Asia by 23%, then Europe by 19%, and Africa by 10%, while 8% of these companies belong. To the North American continent, 1% to the South America, and 1% of the remaining companies go to Oceania.
New means
The Executive Director and General Manager of Dubai Ports World - UAE Region, and the Executive Director of Jafza, Mohammed Al Muallem, said: “We seek, on a permanent basis, to explore new means to stimulate and develop trade in food and agricultural products, at the same time that sustainability is achieved. Sustainability in food supplies ».
He added: “Our main role is to ensure the priority for citizens and residents in the country to obtain their adequate needs of food supplies in a sustainable manner. We were able to ensure the continuation of business and restore commercial activity to achieve the immediate recovery of the post-Covid-19 economy,” noting that this strengthens the role of Dubai, as the main gateway to global trade.
Foreign Trade
Al-Muallem revealed that the volume of Dubai's foreign food trade in the first half of this year amounted to nine million tons, with a total value of 32 billion dirhams, while Dubai's food imports reached 22 billion dirhams.
He stressed that this shows the strength of Dubai’s economy, despite the "Covid-19" pandemic, as well as the effectiveness of strategic plans to ensure food security, in line with the sustainable agriculture system in the UAE, which was recently launched, and aims to support self-sufficiency from Agricultural production, and increasing the number of the workforce in the agricultural sector.
Logistic link
In addition, "Dubai Ports World - UAE Region" affirmed its commitment to its capabilities for multi-domain logistical connectivity to achieve long-term regional commercial development.
She explained that thanks to the strategic location of Jafza, near the port of Jebel Ali, it provides access to markets of more than 3.5 billion consumers, noting that «Jafza» enjoys a long-standing reputation as one of the best areas for establishing companies and doing business, and helping them to Growth and profit in the world; "Jafza" provides flexibility in the procedures for doing business through the unified electronic portal of "Dubai Trade", affiliated to "Dubai Ports World - UAE Region", to facilitate cross-border trade.
Smart services
"Jafza" stated that, in order to provide more ease of doing business for investors and company owners, during the crisis, a number of smart services were provided from the Dubai Trade Portal, including: "Electronic Delivery Request" service that allows companies operating in the supply chain to carry out import operations. With ease and convenience, in addition to the "ZADI" service, a unified and innovative food import platform, which aims to facilitate the import and re-export of food shipments through Dubai ports, stressing that these services can be accessed via the Internet, to reduce the need for manual transactions and personal visits. For auditor services halls.
Advanced solutions
"Jafza" confirmed that its food and agricultural product companies can take advantage of advanced packaging solutions, which include large areas of warehouses ready for high-quality storage, pointing to the launch of an incubator dedicated to halal food products, to encourage traders to launch their halal businesses regionally from Dubai. The infrastructure provided by Jafza allows them to speed up the halal food supply chain for their businesses, which represents a great business opportunity to develop trade in the region, and is another example of the continuous excellence of Jafza.
Leading food companies
"Jafza" is the headquarters of a number of the leading food products companies in the region, including: "Bayara", "Gulf Sugar", "Alokozi", "Nestle", "Heinz", "Unilever", and "Hunter Foods".
The strategic location and world-class facilities owned by "Jafza" is a factor in being the preferred destination for many countries around the world, including: Brazil, the United States, Pakistan, the Netherlands, and South Africa, for importing sugar, meat, cocoa and dairy products. While other countries, such as: Iraq, India, and Saudi Arabia, are the largest export destinations for food products; Such as: coffee, tea, fruits, spices, and dairy products.