UAE food products trade amounted to Dhs31.7bn in Q1 2020

The value of UAE food products traded in Q1 2020 totalled Dhs31.7bn, according to figures released by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority.

The value of the country’s food imports in the first quarter of this year amounted to Dhs17.98bn while trade in medicines and pharmaceuticals amounted to Dhs4.5bn, including imports worth Dhs3.55bn, the rest being exports and re-exports, reported news agency WAM.

The medicines and pharmaceuticals trade in Q1 2020 accounted for around 24 per cent of the UAE’s total trade in this category in 2019.

In May, the UAE Cabinet chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, approved a national security draft law authorising the formation of a team, headed by the UAE’s minister of state for food security and members of the public and private sector, to develop the modern agriculture sector in the country and to use technology to expand food production and create sustainable agriculture.

Read: Sheikh Mohammed commissions post-Covid-19 UAE development strategy

The Emirates Council for Food Security adopted a mechanism to monitor food imports to follow their movement within the supply chain.

The National Food Security Strategy aims to create a comprehensive national system based on enabling sustainable food production and identifying the requirements of the national food basket that includes 18 key items, in line with required standards that include knowing the levels of local consumption, production capacity, and food requirements.

The strategy also includes 38 long- and short-term initiatives focussing on four strategic areas, which include facilitating global food trade, diversifying sources of food imports and identifying alternative supply sources.

In March 2019, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said that Dhs5.6bn had been set aside to support R&D into water scarcity and food security.

Read: UAE to invest Dhs5.6bn into R&D for water scarcity and food security

The Ministry for Future Food Security was set up two years ago, and the UAE ranks at number 31 in the Global Food Security Index, with the government aiming to be among the top 10 by 2021.

Read: Special focus: How the UAE is leading the charge in food security