Business & Money | Sunday 25 August, 2019 4:09 am |

 DP World UAE Region and Jebel Ali Free Zone, Jafza, showcased their capabilities and offerings at the FoodPro Exhibition and Conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, CII, in Chennai to support and facilitate India's food and beverage exports.

The DP World team engaged with F&B companies looking to expand their businesses outside of India and familiarised them with strategic solutions on offer, including plug-and-play platforms, end-to-end supply chain solutions, value-added services, and an investment platform.

With bilateral trade between India and the UAE surpassing US$60 billion in 2018 and poised to grow exponentially, the economic relationship between the countries has strengthened.

India is now the second-largest trading partner of the UAE behind China.

Jebel Ali Port and Jafza provide a multimodal trade, logistics, and industrial hub that further enhances the facility’s role as India’s gateway to the world by facilitating F&B exports and opening new markets for Indian traders.

The Jebel Ali hub is the preferred commercial gateway to a region of 3.5 billion people. This access sustains Dubai’s position as the largest re-export centre for food products, catering to a vast import-dependent region from the GCC to the Middle East and North Africa, MENA, East Africa and Subcontinent markets.

Mohammed Al Muallem, CEO and Managing Director, DP World UAE Region and CEO of Jafza, said, "We aim to reach out to Indian businesses seeking new markets internationally, especially from the F&B sector. The India-UAE Bridge synergies between DP World, UAE Region and India and the ports and logistics capabilities in both countries enable us to offer integrated supply chain solutions to businesses through our unique end-to-end solutions. We deliver the most productive, efficient and safe trading solutions by thinking ahead, foreseeing change and innovation.

"The India-UAE Bridge is a mutually beneficial initiative. India is the UAE’s second-largest trade partner, and as the region’s leading trade enabler, we are keen to sustain and build on our excellent partnership and create a relationship that will allow both our countries to prosper. Our flagship facilities, Jebel Ali Port and Jafza, are well-positioned to integrate our assets, providing the best-in-class business and logistics support to Indian companies operating in Jafza."

As part of its ‘India-UAE Bridge’ initiative, DP World, UAE Region, along with CII, organised a seminar on the eve of the 13th edition of ‘Foodpro’, India’s largest F&B event, to highlight the Dubai-based trade enabler’s efforts to integrate its assets in both countries.