The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) has urged UAE to develop a strategy to increase the exports of dates in the global market.

The country ranked fourth in the value of dates produced for the global market in 2005, accounting for a 37 per cent share, according to a study released by DCCI.

But its share of date exports as a proportion of the total date trade was just five per cent, leading to demands for a clear export strategy, said a report in the Gulf News.

'Although the UAE is considered one of the major producers of dates in the world, its share of date exports as a proportion of the total date trade is very low,' the DCCI said in a statement.

'Therefore, a clear export policy should be designed to either develop the UAE's international export agencies and/or by entering into strategic alliances with traders in other regional or global markets to help promote and distribute.'

The DCCI said demand for dates is especially high in Islamic countries in the month of Ramadan and said there was an opportunity to export dates to Greece.

Currently, there are more than 40 million palm trees in the UAE, 40 per cent of which are in Al Ain. The area allocated to date palms represents 30 per cent of the total land set aside for fruit products in the UAE, the report added.

About 80 per cent of Dubai's date exports are exported to countries including India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Iran, Yemen, Australia, Malaysia, Eritrea and Somalia.