Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE federal export credit company, in collaboration with Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, successfully organised a focus group workshop to strengthen Dubai-based food manufacturers’ and exporters’ ability to trade globally.

The workshop allowed ECI to gain increased understanding of the challenges and issues that the exporters face today, while at the same time develop and implement bespoke solutions to help mitigate trade and export risks, said a statement.
 
Present during the event were Massimo Falcioni, chief executive officer of ECI, along with senior officials from ECI as well as representatives of Dubai based companies from the food and beverage manufacturing and trading sector, it said.
 
Attendees during the event took part in highly interactive workshop sessions and roundtable discussions that focused on timely and strategic topics.
 
The event is part of a series of roadshows that ECI is holding in partnership with chambers of commerce across the UAE.
 
The collaboration with Dubai Chamber reflects ECI's continuing efforts to be a major player in the implementation of the UAE's non-oil diversification strategy and to encourage increased trade and export activity between local and international companies.
 
Hamad Buamim, president and chief executive officer, Dubai Chamber, said: “The workshop was a great learning experience for businesses operating within the trade sector, while it also supported our efforts to enhance the competitiveness of our members.”

“International expansion remains a major part of Dubai Chamber’s strategy and we are always looking at new markets that offer potential to our members and the wider business community in Dubai,” he said.

“At the same time, our representative offices strategically located around the world play a major role in facilitating our members’ expansion into foreign markets, in addition to boosting trade and investment,” he added.
 
Massimo Falcioni, chief executive officer, ECI, said: “Our collaboration with Dubai Chamber is a step forward in the move to enhance global competitiveness amongst its members. The workshop gave us an opportunity to hear about their challenges and a platform to explain to the export community the risk mitigation solutions that will drive in increased productivity and enhanced efficiencies in their operations.”
 
“We would like to thank Dubai Chamber for helping us in hosting the event and for giving a strategic avenue to make the public more aware of our mandate to support UAE economic diversification,” he said.

“The information that we collated will go a long way in our efforts to support local businesses, particularly the exporters and re-exporters, by providing them with the necessary solutions to help them grow further,” he added.
 
In the first half of 2018, Dubai’s non-oil foreign trade reached DH645 billion ($175.6 billion), an increase of Dh5 billion ($1.36 billion) from 2017 figures. Dubai’s exports and re-exports touched Dh268 billion ($72.9 billion), where re-exports registered Dh24 billion ($6.5 billion) increase, up by 14 per cent to Dh203 billion ($55.27 billion).
 
Exports and re-exports, accounting to approximately 40 per cent of Dubai’s total trade, are key segments contributing to the emirate’s growth as a major global trading hub.

Turkey, India, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq, US, Kuwait, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland are amongst the top destinations for Dubai exports and re-exports last year.
 
As Dubai continues to strengthen its position and attractiveness as a favoured export and re-export centre for global trade and commerce, it presents significant opportunities to various businesses including those in the food manufacturing and processing industry, as well as the fast-growing halal industry.
 
Halal food is the largest and most diverse sector of the global Islamic economy, according to Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC), in its State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2017-2018 report published in collaboration with Thomson Reuters.
 
The global halal food market is estimated to have reached a value of Dh4.5 trillion ($1.24 trillion) in 2017 and is expected to reach Dh7 trillion ($1.93 trillion) by 2022.
 
Dubai’s competitiveness plays a key role in accelerating the growth of halal trade and attracting international investments from around the world because of the emirate’s strategic location in connecting the East and West corridors.
 
The Focus Group Discussion served as a strategic platform to learn more about businesses operating in the UAE, especially in Dubai.

The event included a roundtable discussion that touched on timely and strategic topics like market environment and implied challenges; trends impacting the market; current risk management practices and ECI support and its product features, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service