The UAE food industry, seeking Indian government support for imports, stated that there is a high demand in the Middle East for chicken, dairy, basmati rice, frozen marine items, and wheat products from New Delhi.
The UAE sector has sought the Indian government’s assistance in streamlining certification processes, increasing collaboration with the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), and standard harmonization.
They also stated that high-quality packaging of Indian products would help New Delhi players enhance food and food product exports to countries such as Bahrain, Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, who was in the UAE last week, met with these importers and discussed strategies to expand Indian exports.
“There is a huge opportunity for India to export frozen products in these countries”, said Nissar Thalangara, Head of Sales UAE (Frozen and Beverages) at Global Food Industries LLC.
According to a spokesman of the Oman-based Khimji Ramdas Group, there is a demand for Indian basmati rice, and lowering the minimum export price (MEP) on this rice will help India increase exports.
The administration is proposing lowering MEP from $1,200 per tonne to $850 per tonne.
Another GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) importer highlighted the question of halal certification.
India has a well-established system for halal meat certification.
According to Allanasons Pvt Ltd Executive Director Fauzan Alavi, the free trade agreement between India and the UAE is aiding in the promotion of meat product exports.
Alavi went on to say, “We see more opportunities to increase our exports from India to UAE”.
Similar to Meghnani, Choithrams Head (Retail Procurement) Kirti Meghnani believes that focusing on product packaging can assist Indian exporters in growing commerce with the UAE and other Gulf region nations.
Nitesh Ved, Chairman of Appcorp Holding, stated that establishing an APEDA office here will benefit the food business.
Another GCC importer stated that there is a need for products created by Indian cottage enterprises and that India must address concerns such as standards, packaging, and labeling.
The India-UAE trade agreement went into effect in May of last year.
Bilateral trade climbed to $ 84.9 billion in 2022-23, up from $ 72.9 billion in 2021-22.
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