Dubai Exports urges local exporters to build on rising opportunities in India’s foods sector

Dubai Exports, the export promotion agency of the Department of Economic Development in Dubai, hosted a networking session between prominent companies from India and exporters in the UAE alongside the Gulfood 2015 exhibition being held in Dubai 8-12 February 2015. The meeting, organised through the Dubai Exports representative office in India, was part of linking key suppliers in India to the UAE as a major source market.

The networking session was attended by 70 supplier firms from India and Dubai Exports facilitated 90 business-to-business meetings between the two sides during the exhibition.

Commented Mohammed Ali Al Kamali, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Exports: "Dubai Exports and its overseas offices play a pivotal role in supporting local exporters through varied programmes. The International Buyers Programme is one among them and it includes organising missions and platform for buyers and suppliers to connect with exporters in the UAE across hosted meetings.”

Al Kamali said: "India is a strategic market for Dubai and the UAE in general and the Indian economy is projected to grow 6.7% on average during 2015-2019 according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The billion-strong Indian population spread over different states represent a vast and diverse consumer market and consumer spending in the country is expected to hit AED 13 trillion (US$ 3.6 trillion) in 2020, according to  a joint report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).”

BCG also estimates that India could become the world's seventh biggest nation in terms of private wealth, with a 150% increase in total, from AED 7.34 trillion in 2013 to AED 18.3 trillion in 2018. Venture capital investments in India breached the billion dollar mark in 2014.

“Economic dynamism along with the size and diversity of tastes automatically make India a highly promising market for the foods sector, Industry analyses show that the Indian food industry was worth around AED 146 billion (INR 2476 billion) in 2013 and will grow at a rate of 11% to reach AED 242 billion by 2018,” added Ali Kamali.

Naema Bannai, Manager of Overseas Office Services at Dubai Exports pointed to the exciting developments in the food and agriculture sectors in India to highlight the bilateral trade opportunities.

“The dairy industry in India for example has emerged remarkably stronger post the ‘White Revolution’ and continues to grow. By 2020 the combined strength of the organised and unorganised dairy sector in India will reach formidable levels. Abundance of resources and domestic demand will enable the Indian foods sector to venture into new products, services and partnerships and given our existing trade relations, exporters in the UAE can leverage this emerging scenario,” Bannai said.

The Government of India has also set up a fund to help its National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) extend low interest loans to food processing units. The fund is expected to benefit a variety of industry players including large industry chains and lead to an efficient food processing industry infrastructure.