UAE, Russia In Talks On Creation Of Major Food Hub In Middle East - Food Security Minister

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UAE, Russia in Talks on Creation of Major Food Hub in Middle East - Food Security Minister

Abu Dhabi and Moscow are engaged in negotiations on the creation of a large-scale food hub in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by the example of "Food City," a distribution center in Moscow, UAE Minister of State for Food Security Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri told Sputnik

DUBAI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2019) Abu Dhabi and Moscow are engaged in negotiations on the creation of a large-scale food hub in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by the example of "Food City," a distribution center in Moscow, UAE Minister of State for Food Security Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri told Sputnik.

"Food City" opened in Moscow in 2014. It is the largest wholesale food distribution center in Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a visit to the UAE on Tuesday and expressed Russia's readiness to sell halal products and grain to the Gulf country.

"I had the honor of visiting 'Food City' in Moscow. This food city is an excellent example of how you are bringing food from all over the country to make a hub for distribution. And we are now in talks with the Russian side to build a kind of food city in the UAE, to then make a hub for Asia and Africa. As you know, the UAE is not just the UAE people, but the infrastructure and the network that we have established with our ports, with our airlines, we have a 3 billion consumer market here.

And this is great access for Russia," Almheiri said when asked whether the UAE plans to invest in Russia's agricultural sector.

The UAE is interested in boosting cooperation with Russia on food and agriculture as it aims to strengthen its food resilience by diversifying food imports, according to the minister.

"Russia is definitely a strategic food partner for us. Russia is huge, it's an agricultural country. We are a huge importer of food. We have already started good conversations with the Russian government on how we can work together more. The bilateral ties between our two countries are excellent," Almheiri underlined.

The UAE faces complex challenges in food and agriculture due to the desert environment and reliance on food imports. Up to 90 percent of the food consumed in the country comes from imports. Last year, Almheiri unveiled the UAE National Food Security Strategy 2051. The policy aims to diversify food imports and increase local production of food, among other measures.