Exhibition space sold for this year’s Gulfood has increased by 20 per cent compared with 2009 as the GCC region’s food sector continues to experience healthy trading despite the crisis, organisers have announced on Tuesday.
The annual food and beverage exhibition, which will be held at an approximate floor space of over 1 million square feet at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre from February 21 to 24, will also have 3,500 companies exhibiting from 81 countries worldwide. The number of participants has shown a significant rise from last year’s 3,300 exhibitors from 75 countries.
Helal Saeed Almarri, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), said the growth of Gulfood has been evident of the rising number of activities happening in the regional food market.
Quoting a Business Monitor International report, Almarri said food spending in the UAE alone reached $6.78 billion (Dh25bn) in 2009.
“This expenditure is expected to rise by about 2.67 per cent in 2010, making the UAE food market worth $6.96bn,” he said.
He added that the UAE government has invested over $1.4bn since 1994 in a bid to increase the number of food manufacturing plants in the country. Currently there are 150 food processing plants operating throughout the Emirates.
“Companies large and small from around the world are increasingly taking an interest in the Middle East. Whether they are food distributors looking for the latest products, or manufacturers looking for new markets,” says Almarri.
The GCC’s high dependence on imported foodstuff – currently accounting for 90 per cent of the total regional food consumption – has been tagged as the major factor for the industry’s growth.
Hamid Badawi, Deputy CEO of Al Islami Foods, said food importation is considered as a more economical way of satisfying the food requirements of the region’s population.
“Local cultivation of food, for most part of the region, is not possible because of the environment make-up. The most practical and economical solution is to import food from other parts of the world,” he said.
Badawi also mentioned that the halal food industry has been growing dramatically over the years. Global investments into this industry currently stand at $1.9 trillion.
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