The agency's Director of Food Distribution and Reserves Rachmi Widiriani noted in a written statement on Thursday that the 2024 Gulfood Exhibition is one of the largest food exhibitions in the world.
"Indonesia is participating in the event by inviting business actors in the snacks industry, palm oil industry, and the derivatives," she noted during a working visit to the UAE on Wednesday (February 21).
The exhibition on February 19-23, 2024, features more than five thousand brands from 190 countries, including Indonesia, and focuses on the future of the food industry, Widiriani revealed.
She remarked that the UAE is an international trade hub connecting countries in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. Hence, the UAE has become one of Indonesia's main trade and investment partners in the Middle East region.
As a potential market, the export value of Indonesian processed food to the UAE in 2020 was recorded at US$89.42 million, or an increase of 27.09 percent as compared to 2019.
Meanwhile, in 2022, the UAE became Indonesia's second-largest trading partner among Middle Eastern countries, with a total trade of US$5.06 billion, she highlighted.
"Looking at the Cost Benefit and Prognosis analysis of IUAE-CEPA (Indonesia-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement), in the 10 years since the entry into force (EIF), Indonesia's exports to the UAE were projected to increase by US$844.4 million, or an increase of 53.9 percent," she remarked.
In addition, Indonesia's imports from the UAE are projected to increase by US$307.3 million, or around 18.26 percent. This is needed to reduce Indonesia's trade balance deficit with the UAE.
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Translator: Muhammad Harianto, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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