A recent agreement has been signed with the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID) to host their Affiliate Companies’ Meeting for the first time ever in Dubai.
The meeting will take shape in the style of a conference, which will be held at the AgraME exhibition on March 7, 2018. AgraME is a global agricultural exhibition, taking place on 6-8 March at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
As part of the agreement, AAAID will be inviting their 40 member companies to attend, as well as key investors and government bodies. They will coordinate with specialists from six of AAAID’s affiliate companies to present case studies on different projects including sugar, grains, oil, fruit, vegetables, dairy and poultry.
AAAID is an independent multilateral financial institution established in 1976 in Sudan with the vision of achieving food security in the Arab World. With the Headquarters in Sudan and regional office in Dubai AAAID has 21 member states who have collectively contributed an Authorized Capital of 1,098 Million US Dollars, its paid up capital is USD 606 Million as of December 31 2016.
AAAID’s corporate investments in both existing companies and companies under implementation fall under four main sectors; where 52% of these investments is in the agricultural manufacturing sector, including the production of sugar, oils and other food commodities; 24% is in plant production, including the production of grain cereals, feed, vegetables and fruits; 19% is in animal production, including poultry, red and white meat and dairy products, and 5% is in the services sector consisting of various agricultural services.
The support provided by AAAID not only falls under capital funding, but also includes the provision of data, research and development, and agricultural investment opportunities through linking private and public sector representatives with organizations and government bodies.
As part of the annual meeting taking place on day two (March 7) of AgraME, a lineup of speakers who are pioneers in their respective fields will offer open presentations on developments, achievements and investment opportunities in different aspects of the MENA agriculture industry.
Confirmed speakers include Dr. Ahmed Al Tigani Abdul Rahim, General Manager, Emirates Rawabi Company (UAE); Abdul Raouf Merghani Abdelrahman, Managing Director, Kenana Sugar Company (Sudan); Mr. Al Alawi Mawlai Abdul Gadir, General Manager, Manafid Al Houboub Company (Morocco), and Talal Yousif Petrus, General Manager, Al Marga for Cattle and Agricultural Development Company (Tunisia) among others.
Speaking ahead of the meeting in March H.E Mohamed Bin Obaid Al-Mazrouei, President of the AAAID, commented: “There is growing responsibility of the Arab countries to reduce the widening gap in the lack of food security, which is one of the reasons why AAAID stresses the value of the involvement of strategic partners. AAAID is always keen on building and growing partnerships with Arab and International establishments to create mutual benefits.
AgraME is one of the largest exhibitions in the Middle East highlighting products and services from different agricultural sectors. We are eager to host our Affiliate Companies’ Meeting 2018 at AgraME as it provides a platform for organizations and companies to present and showcase their most advanced technologies and innovations in the fields of crop farming, animal farming, aquaculture or animal health. This is in addition to discussing the challenges faced in the industry, and how to solve these challenges.”
With a more targeted focus on the Crop Farming, Animal Farming, Aquaculture and Animal Health sectors, AgraME 2018 will attract buyers, both locally and internationally, looking to source the latest products and innovative solutions, as well as offer a content platform to discuss ways to tackle the ongoing struggle in regional food security.
“The partnership between AAAID and AgraME is aimed at helping grow the agricultural industry across the Middle East. With a high dependency on food import, we share a vision that the ME region can be more food secure given the right level of responsible investment, know-how and tools. The conference will enable increased networking opportunities and will enable strategic partnerships to be formed between investors, government bodies and those working in the agriculture, aquaculture and animal health industries.” commented Samantha Bleasby, Exhibition Director, AgraME.
“Sharing best practice with relevant case studies will help increase knowledge around how investment can help our industry and should prove to be a very special day. We are thrilled to be hosting the AAAID annual event at AgraME 2018!” added Bleasby.
Image of Mohamed Bin Obaid Al-Mazrouei, President of the AAAID