A breakthrough in camel cloning in the UAE could have benefits across the Arab world as the camels could be genetically engineered to produce more milk and grow faster, said experts.

UAE Environment and Water Ministry director of animal welfare and development Thouwaiba Mohammed Ahli said Arab countries could learn from the country's advanced camel development programme, said a report in the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

In 2009, the UAE announced that it had successfully cloned the world's first camel, a female nicknamed Injaz (Achievement).

"I think they can learn from us because we are ahead of the curve," said Ahli while speaking at a two-day meeting organised by the Arab Organisation for Agricultural Development (AOAD), which comes under the umbrella of the Arab League, in co-operation with Bahrain's Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Ministry in Manama.

"The UAE has got the first baby camel cloned from a skin gene and we are proud of that. I think we are the second country in the Arab world in camel innovation - the first is Tunisia, but we will work so hard to become the first," she stated.

Ahli pointed out that camel milk had become a much sought-after commodity among European chocolate makers and the UAE was trying to capitalise on this highly lucrative industry.

According to her, 4,000 camels could produce 8,000 litres of milk per day. "We also have production farms which we hope in the near future will become the main supplier to Europe to be used in chocolate," Ahli noted.

"The hope is that camel milk will replace cow's milk to make a better quality chocolate," she added.

Camel racing

Meanwhile, government officials said camel racing could be making a comeback in the Kingdom decades after it was stopped.

The plan emerged during the gathering where participants discussed initiatives that included mapping camel herds across the Arab world and drawing up the region's first comprehensive strategy to bring camel breeding into the 21st century.

Experts from across the Middle East gathered for the first time to discuss ways to develop the potentially lucrative camel market.

"The next step for us in Bahrain is camel racing," Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Ministry livestock director Abdulrahman Shawqi Al Mannai told the GDN.

"We plan to enhance the situation of camel farmers already in Bahrain and organise gatherings of those breeders to start a process that will lead to camel racing in future," he added.-TradeArabia News Service