Day: September 14, 2021

DUBAI, The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCAE) has announced that the European Commission has approved the UAE’s Camel Milk Residue Monitoring Plan and continues to allow the export of UAE camel milk to the 27 EU countries for 2021.

Saif Al Shara, Assistant Under-Secretary for the Sustainable Communities Sector and Acting Assistant Under-Secretary for the Food Diversity Sector at MoCCAE, said, “Enabling food products to compete in local and international markets is a priority that we aim to achieve in collaboration with our strategic partners from the public and private sectors. In this context, the Ministry has issued effective legislation and continues to roll out control processes to ensure our food products meet the latest international safety standards. We liaise with our counterparts in every target market to understand their import and health requirements, and develop plans to guarantee compliance of our food products.”

He added, “With 4,500 tons produced annually, camel milk and its products are among the UAE’s signature foods. They are in high demand locally, and owing to Al Ain Farms and Emirates Industry for Camel Milk and Products (EICMP) – the manufacturer of the popular camel milk brand Camelicious, they are making inroads into regional and global markets. This requires continuous follow-up with the concerned authorities, such as the European Commission, to keep up to date with the import requirements and help local producers meet them.”

During Q1 2021, MoCCAE worked closely with Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, Dubai Municipality, Al Ain Farms, and EICMP to secure the approval of the European Commission for the UAE’s Camel Milk Residue Monitoring Plan. This included overseeing the two manufacturers’ compliance with the import requirements and submitting annual reports of residue percentages to the Commission.

To reflect the updates in the export regulations in 2020, MoCCAE issued the Ministerial Decision No. 106 of 2020 regarding the fulfillment of EU requirements by the facilities exporting camel milk and its products.

The commitment of Al Ain Farms and EICMP to enacting action plans and complying with relevant legislation has helped camel milk enter new markets. Notably, the two manufacturers were approved for export to the US and Canada.

Currently, MoCCAE, along with food control authorities and the two manufacturers, is liaising with Chinese authorities to obtain their approval for exporting UAE camel milk and its products to China.

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, Abu Dhabi Exports Office (ADEX), the UAE’s export financing entity founded by Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, has reached critical milestones in its efforts to boost the non-crude export sector and support the global market expansion of Emirati exporters.

In its first full year of operation in 2020, ADEX committed AED500 million (US$136 million) to overseas buyers to finance their procurement of UAE goods and services. In 2021, ADEX allocated AED735 million ($200 million), a 33.3 per cent increase compared to 2020.

Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director-General of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and Chairman of the Export Executive Committee of ADEX, pointed out that the office had made great progress over the past two years at the local and international levels as evidenced by the growing support for local exporters and the steady expansion of their exports and services.

He said, “ADEX continues to transform challenges into opportunities according to the directives of the wise leadership. We will continue with our initiatives to strengthen the global market positioning of goods and services in line with the government’s ‘make it in the Emirates’ initiative and the strategic objectives of ‘Operation 300bn.’ We are confident that ADEX’s financing solutions to foreign importers will open up new opportunities for exporters to expand to new markets.”

ADEX has been building robust collaborations with many government, semi-government, and private entities over the past two years. To support the export sector, ADEX signed several agreements and Memoranda of Understanding with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development; the Department of Economic Development in Ajman; the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Ras Al Khaimah Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Sharjah Chambers of Commerce and Industry; Abu Dhabi Global Market; Etihad Credit Insurance; Dubai Industries and Exports; and the Emirates Development Bank. Also, ADEX has conducted webinars to raise the awareness of its members involved in exports about its financing services and ways to leverage its solutions.

ADEX has strengthened its international relations as well to increase exporters’ access to global markets across continents. Specifically, ADEX sealed an agreement with the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB), one of Africa’s most prominent multilateral development financial organisations, to open a line of credit worth AED110.2 million. Their agreement aims to enable exporters to expand in Africa by giving African importers access to funds to purchase UAE-made goods and services.

In addition, ADEX has signed a cooperation agreement with TDB to establish robust business and trade ties between the UAE and Africa by exploring co-financing possibilities and establishing additional lines of credit.

Furthermore, ADEX provided AED22 million to Jenaan Pipes & Irrigation Systems to finance its infrastructure project in Egypt. The fund will enable the company to import raw materials from Borouge, a leading UAE petrochemicals company, to manufacture and supply irrigation systems to one of the world’s largest refineries situated in Egypt.

Saeed Hamad Al Dhaheri, Acting Director-General of ADEX, said, “Through our support, we are furthering their contributions to the national economy. Our financing solutions are designed to accelerate the diversification of the UAE economy and the growth of the local non-oil sectors, in line with the country’s strategic visions.”

“We look forward to enhancing our contributions in the coming years and leveraging promising opportunities to bolster the export sector and explore new global markets for our exporters. This is in line with the 10X10 Program, a recently launched government initiative under the ‘Projects of the 50.’ We are committed to promoting the local exports, as well as supporting Emirati export companies’ expansion in 10 markets identified by the 10X10 Program,” Al Dhaheri added.

He stated, “As we celebrate ADEX’s second anniversary, we reaffirm our commitment to utilising our capabilities to support and ensure the sustainable growth of national exports by providing financial support that enables Emirati exporters and their expansion across potential global markets.”

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, The UAE is preparing to be the world’s leading destination for travellers over the next six months during the Expo 2020 Dubai, while the local hotel sector has regained its pre-pandemic reservation rates.

The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) revealed the total number of passengers travelling to the UAE grew in August 2021 to over 2.5 million, compared to 814,000 in the same period of 2020, surging by 207 percent.

In its statement to the Emirates News Agency (WAM), the GCAA highlighted increased figures in national air traffic statistics for August, which recorded 45,953 flights.

The preventive measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic are one of the significant factors that helped boost the country’s stature as a safe travel destination, despite the pandemic continuing globally.

The UAE leads the list of countries in terms of vaccine distribution rate, with 79.3 percent of population being fully vaccinated until 13th September, with the number of coronavirus tests conducted being 78,651,247. The percentage of those received the first dose is 90.5.

Tourism experts and specialists predict the coming period to be a real breakthrough for the tourism sector after it recently regained its balance following a series of critical decisions made by the UAE Government, most notably allowing fully vaccinated individuals to apply for an entry visa.

In 16 days, the UAE will witness the grand start of the Expo 2020 Dubai, one of the world’s most anticipated events and will make the country the top tourist destination over the next six months. The expo is expected to receive over 25 million local and foreign visitors.

It will also play a key role in advancing the tourism sector and positively affect many other sectors, including aviation and transport.

In general, hotel reservations in the UAE already witnessed significant growth prior to the Expo 2020 Dubai. The hotel booking website, “Wego” registered over 500,000 searches for flights and hotel reservations for Dubai during the event period.

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, has held a virtual dialogue session with the American Atlantic Council, a non-partisan think tank headquartered in Washington.

The meeting reviewed the growth of UAE-Israeli relations nearly a year after the signing of the Abraham Accords.

Bin Touq said that the Abraham Accords provided a constructive ground for achieving exceptional growth and significant achievements in the economic partnership between the two countries and the launch of trade and investment cooperation ties between the UAE and Israel at a rapid pace in record time. He added that it is an important catalyst in achieving further growth and prosperity in the UAE-Israeli relations and in the region.

He said that the UAE, under the directives of its wise leadership, believes that the future of regional security depends on strong multilateral economic partnerships and a shared commitment to achieve stability and prosperity, and the Abraham Accords help fulfil these aspirations.

Bin Touq added, “The Abraham Accords generate wide and diversified economic opportunities for both the UAE and Israel, and within one year a good non-oil trade exchange rate of nearly US$700 million was achieved. In addition, nearly 60 major agreements between the concerned authorities in the two countries were signed at the government and private sector levels, apart from academic, cultural, research and other institutions. They cover a number of important future sectors that play a great important role on the economic agenda of the two countries, such as science and technology, artificial intelligence techniques, tourism, logistics, transportation, healthcare, energy, environment, research and development, modern agriculture, water solutions and irrigation.

“The efforts of the two countries in this regard are continuing and the next stage will witness more agreements and memoranda of understanding to further expand the scope of economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries and to achieve new levels of progress in the growing relations between them,” he continued.

Furthermore, Bin Touq pointed out that the growth of economic and commercial activity, and the increase in tourism exchange and the flow of investments between the two countries would enhance growth and opportunities on a broader regional scale by pushing for greater economic integration among the countries of the region. This includes all sectors and will contribute to increasing opportunities for youth and laying the foundations for a more prosperous and sustainable future in various countries of the region.

Bin Touq also underlined that the UAE’s hosting of Expo 2020 Dubai next month is an opportunity to give a great boost to UAE-Israeli relations and to attract larger numbers of businessmen and companies from Israel to showcase their products, services and innovations in various sectors. “It will also serve as a platform to better inform them of various business and investment opportunities at the regional and global level through direct communication with global companies and delegations at Expo 2020 Dubai. The event will also contribute to attracting more Israeli tourists to the UAE and increase the rates of tourism and cultural exchange between the two countries, which will support their common interests.”

Bin Touq explained that the UAE has fully completed its preparations to receive world delegations Expo 2020 Dubai while fully maintaining health and safety standards and precautionary measures against COVID-19 in accordance with the best international standards. He noted that the UAE is among the world’s top 10 countries in the world with regards to the rate of vaccination against COVID-19, and among the world’s leading countries in terms of the number of daily COVID-19 screenings per capita.

Bin Touq further affirmed that all facilities will be provided to the UAE’s guests, including ensuring the full readiness of the infrastructure, the hospitality sectors, hotels and services, including digital services and ICT applications, to ensure a unique and distinct experience for Expo 2020 Dubai attendees, including companies, businessmen, tourists and others.

The virtual session took place on the sidelines of an official visit by a high-level economic delegation from the UAE to the USA, headed by Bin Touq, that aimed to set new frameworks for cooperation in all fields. The visit is also aimed at creating broader trade and investment paths to drive the efforts of the two countries in accelerating economic recovery and restoring growth rates in the post-COVID-19 phase.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, ENOC Group, the Official Integrated Energy Partner of Expo 2020 Dubai, will be the exclusive host of the Middle East’s first LPG Week, the World LPG Association’s (WLPGA) flagship event announced in Amsterdam in 2019 during the 32nd World LPG Forum & 2019 European LPG Congress.

Under the theme ‘Energising Tomorrow’, LPG Week 2021 will be hosted from 5th to 9th December in Dubai World Trade Centre and will be held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group.

LPG Week event travels the globe annually bringing together CEOs of major LPG companies, government ministers and representatives of major intergovernmental organisations as well as media, to explore the LPG business, discuss its growth potential and forge new business relationships.

This year’s LPG Week will follow a hybrid concept. In parallel with the in-person event, LPG Week 2021 will also take place on the Swapcard online event platform, available on web and mobile. This offers a great opportunity to engage with an even larger group of LPG stakeholders across the globe.

Saif Humaid Al Falasi, Group CEO, ENOC, said, “At ENOC, we understand our responsibility towards providing clean energy for future generations. Our partnership with the World LPG Association is aligned with our commitment to support the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to help generate 75 percent of Dubai’s total power output from clean energy by 2050.

“We are proud to exclusively host LPG Week 2021 at a time when the world will be witnessing the greatest events of all times, Expo 2020 Dubai. LPG Week offers a great opportunity to discuss industry best practices as well as challenges through knowledge exchange discussions that will support the industry’s transformation.”

James Rockall, WLPGA CEO and Managing Director, said, “The World LPG Association is very happy to reunite the global LPG industry after the COVID-19 pandemic at the inaugural LPG Week in Dubai in 2021. With its world class infrastructure and excellent connections with the whole world, Dubai is the perfect place to host LPG Week. Strong support from business and government from the UAE as well as the opportunity to associate LPG Week with Expo 2020 Dubai proved very compelling reasons in our decision to select Dubai.”

LPG Week reunites the full LPG value chain under an umbrella of dedicated conference sessions, engaging meetings and workshops, business and exclusive networking opportunities and a major global exhibition.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, on Tuesday issued Decree No 42 of 2021 terminating the services of Sami Abdullah Abdulkhaliq Gargash, Executive Director of the Mohammed bin Rashid Housing Establishment, effective Tuesday, September 14th, 2021. The decree will be published at the Official Gazette.

In a related development, H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, issued Council Resolution No. 41 of 2021 entrusting Omar Hamad Abdullah Hamad Bu Shabab, the Executive Director of the Commercial Registration Sector at the Dubai Department of Economic Development, with the duties of the Executive Director of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Housing Establishment, for a renewable six-month period. The resolution will go into effect from today and will be published at the Official Gazette.

Source: Emirates News Agency