A new paper from Dubai Industrial Park has examined opportunities to leverage Fourth Industrial Revolution advancements to boost agricultural production in GCC region.
The paper, entitled ‘Global Food Trends to 2030: With a Closer Look at the GCC’, is a collaboration with The Economist Intelligence Unit.
Saud Abu Al-Shawareb, Managing Director of Dubai Industrial Park has presented key findings from the report, which identifies 20 global agri-food trends indicating the planet’s prospects for the future, and how this relates to the Gulf region, from the manufacturing stage to the supply chain.
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The whitepaper highlights the ability of countries within the region to harness the technological advances of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to boost agricultural production, with the UAE leading the way.
It also suggests that through leveraging its role as a significant trade hub, the region can position itself as a pioneer in fostering trade in sustainably sourced food with its associated economic benefits, and help reduce food supply risks at a time of increasing global trade uncertainty.
The report calls for a full assessment of the economic, environmental and technological risks facing the Gulf region’s food system.
Furthermore, it weighs the region’s challenges – including dependency on imports, reduced agricultural capacity and limited access to freshwater – against its opportunities and strengths, such as the emergence of technological advances in agriculture, high trade volumes flowing from Asia to Europe and Africa, and vice versa, as well as world-class ports equipped with state-of-the-art technologies.
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Her Excellency Mariam Al Mahairi, Minister of State for Food security said: “I am excited to be here today during the milestone of Dubai Industrial Park’s whitepaper launch, as this will help us further understand where the trends are directed today.
“At the Food Security Office, our efforts are aimed at achieving food security, today and in the future, and the wise leadership has placed food security among its top national priorities.”
“In November 2018, we developed the National Strategy for Food Security where we placed short term outcomes for 2021 and long-term outcomes for 2051, and with that, we aim to position the UAE as world’s best in the Global Food Security Index by 2051 and among the top 10 countries by 2021.”
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