Golden onions

Several years ago, the local community occupied extensive advertisements about what was called the "golden ribbon", and many people at the time assumed that it might be important or significant, until it turned out to be just another advertisement tape.

Likewise, social media channels and newspapers shocked us with news that the price of onions began competing with precious gold and fossil oil in instability, and it suddenly jumped from 1.5 dirhams per kilogram to nine dirhams.

Some people started looking for what caused this jump, which had been in the financial markets, for the millionaire to turn into a billionaire. Shetty's case was solved and the debtor paid off his debts, but the golden onion was another story.

The Corona epidemic was a challenge that affected supply lines in many countries and its holidays. We in the Emirates, God loved us, led by a wise leader, reassured the souls by saying, “Don't chill them.” This statement was coupled with an immediate response, and put in place short, medium and long-term solutions. But we need to contribute to researching how to avoid this kind of sudden jump and the high cost of avoiding it.

Food security requires complex solutions, part of which is financial. Finance refuses to provide the farms to farmers since the marketing was halted in its previous form, and banks do not assume their responsibility towards the agricultural sector, and they do not realize that achieving food security is not only a governmental responsibility, or the responsibility of national programs, but a joint responsibility that must Everyone should participate in it.

We have the right to aspire to a more interactive banking role from these banks. Instead of sponsoring sports matches or financing businessmen with numbers that include nine zeros, if you put the responsibility for wasting them on those who spent them, they would remain in the bank vaults and not evaporate. It is time to consider developing financing options. Directed to projects or funds to support small or medium-sized national projects, advanced industrial or technical projects, or agri-food industries and projects that enhance food security, instead of reading data that we do not know its sincerity from their lies that the exposure of a bank or another did not exceed 01% of the value of its capital! At least we will know that food and national projects will not escape, and we will not see appeals for the return of fleeing capital in installments without profits, or for years, if it ever came back.

Supporting food security is a national responsibility and a duty of everyone .. We still note the limited participation of the banking sector in the performance of this duty, whether by financing soft agricultural loans or buying agricultural land, where it is impossible to content itself with looking at mortgaging the land as an option in many banks, but it must be The loan in person, and the salary ceiling covers the value, repayment within four years, and with high profits! While in European countries we see real partnership, the cash in the accounts will not feed mouths or provide food.

This challenge presents an opportunity for the new leadership of the esteemed central bank to play its role in obligating banks to offer financing packages directed to the agricultural sector and related manufacturing industries that take into account financing periods and profit ratios.

The integration of economic sectors is not a stage requirement, but a commitment imposed by life. If we want the parallel economic sectors to grow, we must monitor the integration of other sectors to them, and document the seriousness of their support and results through economic packages and packages and the results published and the performance monitored.

A non-resident internal management consultant at the Emirates Center for Government Knowledge at the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government

To read the previous articles of the writer please click on its name.