India, UAE express satisfaction over existing bilateral cooperation in food security

Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Monday met UAE's Minister for Food Security, Mariam Al-Muhairi, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the sidelines of Gulfood 2020 and expressed satisfaction at the existing bilateral cooperation.

The two ministers expressed satisfaction at the existing bilateral cooperation in the field of food security, with India being one of the largest food exporters to UAE.

At the same time, they also deliberated upon ways and means to further increase cooperation and collaboration in the sector between the two countries.

In this context, they discussed UAE investments in food corridors in India in accordance with the vision given by the top leadership of the two countries.

Both ministers mentioned that the two sides could also exchange information in new areas such as saline water agriculture.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal highlighted the enormous potential for investments in the food processing sector in India. The UAE side stays positive on opportunities for investing in various areas of food processing such as cold chains, food parks, contract farming, and logistics.

Earlier in the day, Badal addressed a business roundtable on opportunities in the food processing sector in India.

She highlighted the Operation Green scheme of the Government of India for the integrated development of tomato, onion, and potato. She also emphasized that India can become a major player in organic food, especially the states in the North East.

She had inaugurated the India pavilion put together with the assistance of APEDA at Gulfood 2020 on Feb 16.

India is the largest participant in Gulfood with almost 300 companies and India's food exports to UAE stand at almost 1.8 billion dollars.