Over the past few years, Russia has made several steps towards strengthening its business presence in the UAE in agricultural sector and others with the opening of a Trade Representative office at the Russian Embassy in Abu Dhabi in 2017, and the inauguration of the Russian Food House (RFH) in Dubai in 2019.
Russia is looking to boost its agricultural exports to the UAE in a bid to take advantage of the country's highly responsive and rapidly growing market for food products, Emirati and Russian trade officials said.
Speaking to WAM on how the UAE can benefit from Russian food exports, Omar Khan, Director of International Offices at the Dubai Chamber said, "Home to a flourishing agriculture sector, Russia is actively pursuing efforts to enhance its food exports to the Middle East and Asia."
He further added, "The UAE stands to benefit from this trend as it remains the preferred re-export hub for Russian products and commodities in the region, providing exporters with access to around two billion consumers in surrounding markets."
Moreover, Khan explained, Russia provide the UAE an "enormous business potential" in various economic sectors, and the Dubai Chamber is working on increasing these ties with the opening of an office in the region to
spot business possibilities in Russian and Eurasian markets.
Being a home to a fast-growing and cosmopolitan population, which is increasingly driving up demand for a diverse range of food products, the UAE makes a favourable market for Russian food exports, Khan said.
"Around Dh900 million worth of agricultural products and foodstuff were exported from Russia to Dubai in 2018, while more than Dh104 million Russian food-related products were re-exported through the emirate. Yet, there is plenty of room to widen this scope in the future and explore new product categories," he stated.
He went on to say that at the same time, Dubai is a major hub for food products from around the world, which are re-exported through the emirate to surrounding markets in the GCC, Africa and Asia.
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