India eyes Gulf food market
Monday, 24 September 2007
Dubai, Sep 23 (PTI): India has launched a major drive to step up exports of agricultural and processed food products to the Gulf countries and attract investment in the sector.
The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries offer huge potential for Indian food since the region has historically been reliant on imported food, officials said.
Driven by the buoyant economy and growing population, the market in recent years has reached an all-time high in terms of volume of imports, they said.
India's exports to the Gulf had been steadily increasing over the years, but there was still considerable potential to expand shipments of processed agricultural and food products, K.S. Money, Chairman of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), who recently led a high- level delegation to the visit to Gulf region, said.
The Gulf region offered tremendous opportunity for Indian food exports, he said, adding the value of trade in agriculture and processed food between India and the Gulf had "grown from USD5.5 billion in 2001 to USD48.6 billion at the end of 2006".
Food exports to the GCC region is worth an estimated USD3 billion a year with agricultural and processed food exports from India to the UAE alone accounting for more than USD273 million in 2004-2005. Total annual trade between India and
the GCC currently exceeds USD15 billion, 15 per cent of India's total foreign trade.
Dubai plays a key role in the distribution of food in the region, with over 70 per cent of the total UAE food imports re- exported to more than 160 countries including the Gulf, North and East Africa, and, increasingly, the Central Asian Republics.
According to APEDA, the Middle East is already a target market for over three-quarters of India's main export products, including fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, confectionery and dairy items.
"India is an important partner of the Middle East market both in terms of exports and imports. India exported agro products to Middle East market in the year 2005-06 to the extent of USD1,325 million, out of its total export turnover of USD3,977 million, which is 33 per cent of India's exports of APEDA products.
The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries offer huge potential for Indian food since the region has historically been reliant on imported food, officials said.
Driven by the buoyant economy and growing population, the market in recent years has reached an all-time high in terms of volume of imports, they said.
India's exports to the Gulf had been steadily increasing over the years, but there was still considerable potential to expand shipments of processed agricultural and food products, K.S. Money, Chairman of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), who recently led a high- level delegation to the visit to Gulf region, said.
The Gulf region offered tremendous opportunity for Indian food exports, he said, adding the value of trade in agriculture and processed food between India and the Gulf had "grown from USD5.5 billion in 2001 to USD48.6 billion at the end of 2006".
Food exports to the GCC region is worth an estimated USD3 billion a year with agricultural and processed food exports from India to the UAE alone accounting for more than USD273 million in 2004-2005. Total annual trade between India and
the GCC currently exceeds USD15 billion, 15 per cent of India's total foreign trade.
Dubai plays a key role in the distribution of food in the region, with over 70 per cent of the total UAE food imports re- exported to more than 160 countries including the Gulf, North and East Africa, and, increasingly, the Central Asian Republics.
According to APEDA, the Middle East is already a target market for over three-quarters of India's main export products, including fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, confectionery and dairy items.
"India is an important partner of the Middle East market both in terms of exports and imports. India exported agro products to Middle East market in the year 2005-06 to the extent of USD1,325 million, out of its total export turnover of USD3,977 million, which is 33 per cent of India's exports of APEDA products.